How Does Balthasar View Science & Theology | Stephen Long

Lecture Title - "From Mirror to Window:" Balthasar’s Reflections on Theology, Science, and Creation Drawing on Auguste Comte, Balthasar traces historical “progress” from an earlier epoch in which humanity conceived itself as “being spirit within nature” to a modern, scientific epoch that sets humanity against nature. In the first, humanity is a “mirror” of nature, in the second it is a “window.” Philosophy becomes anthropology rather than cosmology. The study of the human individual opens a window to limitless possibilities for uniting humanity but also the peril of destroying it. What science needs, suggests Balthasar, is an “integrally human” absorption of it into philosophy and theology, one that works against a strong distinction between nature and supernature, and resists the reduction of creation to utility by interpreting it with the transcendentals of truth, goodness and beauty. D. Stephen Long (PhD Duke University) is the Cary M. Maguire University Professor of Ethics at Southern Methodist University. He is author of Hebrews (Interpretation) (Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), Saving Karl Barth: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Preoccupation (Fortress Press, 2014), and The Perfectly Simple Triune God: Aquinas and His Legacy (Fortress Press, 2016). The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world. Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/  Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Watch the HCTU on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HenryCenter Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

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This is our archive of public lectures and conversations where scholars and pastors offer careful reflection on a range of biblical, theological, and ecclesial topics. The HCTU seeks to bridge the gap between the academy and the church by cultivating resources and communities that promote Christian wisdom. This is accomplished through a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God.