Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905 – 1988), Swiss Roman Catholic theologian

We had another intense conversation this past Sunday as we began our first dip into Chapter 4 of Southgate’s book.

We discussed topics on God’s passability and suffering, whether or not God could attain new levels of self-actualization, the relationship of the persons within the Trinity, whether or not consciousness exists in inorganic matter, if God created an ambiguous world, and Jurgen Moltmann’s and Hans Urs von Balthasar’s views on kenosis and the Trinity.

Yes, we covered a lot of topics to say the least.

Here are our essays.

Did God the Father grieve when Jesus suffered and died?  If so, then did God change?  Does God change if he suffers?  Can God experience new things?  Grünewald, Matthias “The Crucifixion”, 1515; Detail from the Isenheim altarpiece

We will cover the first three sections of Chapter 4 of Southgate’s The Groaning of Creation.

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