Balthasar and Anxiety: Methodological and Phenomenological Considerations | Fr.

John
Cihak

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The following paper was presented at the International Convention on the Occasion of the
Centenary of the Birth of Hans Urs von Balthasar, October 7, 2005, at Lateran University in Rome.

A Timely Theme

I would first like to express my appreciation to His Excellency, The Most Reverend Rino Fisichella,
for the gracious invitation to speak at this conference, and also to say that I am humbled by this
opportunity to speak before such distinguished scholars and lovers of the theology of Hans Urs
von Balthasar.

The area of his theology that I am currently exploring from the perspective of fundamental
theology is anxiety (Angst). [1] After a flurry of contributions in the early 1950s during the
heyday of existentialism Catholic theologians, it seems, have left this theme largely untouched,
[2] leaving the topic primarily in the hands of psychologists and philosophers. Anxiety as a
cultural phenomenon, however, is perhaps the highest as it has ever been in the West. In the
United States, for example, anxiety is second only to drug abuse as the most common mental
health problem affecting approximately 25% of the population. [3] In more general terms we can
think of the unexpected and tragic events of 9/11, the terrorist bombings in Spain and London,
the continued nuclear threat now in the form of a "dirty bomb", natural disasters like the
tsunami in Indonesia and hurricane Katrina, the continued destruction of the family and the loss
of faith in institutions which in former times had given a sense of security.

The contemporary situation of the West seems profoundly marked by anxiety; therefore, it is a
timely theme for the fundamental theologian who has the responsibility to speak to the "other"
a reason to believe the saving message of Jesus Christ (1 Pt 3:15). Anxiety, moreover, as a theme
has the potential to advance a "tria-logue" between psychology, philosophy and theology in
order to further the collaboration of these three sciences since all three share interest in the
theme. In the short time provided, I would like to expose briefly two points: the first, on the
method for approaching this theme and the second, on Balthasar’s understanding of the
phenomenon of anxiety.

Methodological Consideration

Although fragments of the theme of anxiety can be found in many places of the Balthasarian
corpus, the theme is found foremost in the one small work the author explicitly dedicated to the
theme, Der Christ und die Angst (CA), and in the writings surrounding that work. [4] Balthasar’s
primary intention in CA is to give a theological interpretation of anxiety. However, in order for his
interpretation to be heard in the contemporary situation, it seems appropriate to give his
interpretation a strong phenomenological grounding that it might connect more deeply with
psychology and philosophy. A second methodological choice within this first choice is to focus
the description of the phenomenon on people rather than texts. After all, people are anxious,
not ideas. Thus, a constellation of persons may be formed through which he presents the
phenomenon of anxiety. This methodological choice, I believe, respects the way Balthasar
himself thought and wrote.

The basic hermeneutical key for looking at this theme in Balthasar is the whole lies in the
fragment. [5] Jacques Servais writes that with this key, "Balthasar can penetrate to the heart of
the whole reality and take in the singular event in which God appears and communicates himself
in Jesus Christ". [6] The whole presents itself entirely only in Christ, yet in Christ, his fullness
shines forth in every fragment. The task then becomes not an ordering of the fragments into a
system, but orchestrating them into a symphony by which each fragment is oriented to the ever
greater Gestalt of the figure of Jesus Christ.