There is no doubt that Hans Urs von Balthasar was one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century. The far-ranging scope of his interests found there way in his numerous books and articles. Even those who disagree with elements (small or large) of his thought can recognize his genius. It is for this reason that many people, supporters and detractors alike, are confused when they look into Balthasar’s relationship with Adrienne von Speyr. According to Balthasar, you can’t understand him and his theological writings without looking at her. His work was tied to her and her rather unusual and strange theological writings, often produced by Adrienne in the middle of some mystical state with Balthasar dictating and editing what she said. Theologically, she was saying much which confirmed his intuitions, often commenting on things which she should not have had any knowledge about. His own understanding of the death and resurrection of Christ, his own theology of hell, is intricately linked to Adrienne’s own experiences of the passion of Christ; during Holy Saturday, she felt as if she were sharing in the sufferings of Christ as he descended into hell. Her personal disposition and demeanor changed; one could see she was experiencing the sufferings of hell, and her consciousness reflected what one has in such a state.
The numerous quotes of Adrienne found in the final volume of the Theo-Drama proves Balthasar’s assertion that their theological destiny is tied together. And anyone reading some of her exegetical works can find reasons for why Balthasar was more than a little impressed with what she had to say. However, there is far more to this story and it is this more which can be difficult to understand and even provide one reasons to question Balthasar’s ability to judge and guide Adrienne’s mystical experiences; an example of this comes from her work, Book of All Saints, posthumously published by Balthasar and finally released in translation by Ignatius Press.
What is the problem? How can a book about saints be problematic? It’s because the book is not a usual collection of saintly biographies, but they are a collection of the experiences Adrienne von Speyr had with these figures, seeing their prayer life and even a sense of their own internal disposition. At least, that is the claim. Sometimes, the people involved were people Balthasar asked her to bring up before herself, while in a mystical state, while at other times, they would be people she just experiences and tells Balthasar about, expecting him to fill out all the details. As Balthasar relates, “Frequently, she would be shown the essence of the person she saw without knowing exactly what the person’s name was. Once she said, ‘Today I have seen Gregory.’ ‘Which one?’ I asked. She confessed that she did not know there was more than one; she had no idea which person it was with whom she interacted. I asked her then to begin, and after just a few sentences it became clear to me that it could have been none other than Gregory Nazianzen, as the section in this book will confirm,” Adrienne von Speyr, Book of All Saints. Trans. D.C. Schindler (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2008), 20. Such a methodology reminds one of mediums and the way they will give vague hints about the person they “see” until someone fills in the detail for them, making it seem as if the medium is interacting with someone but they really are not. It bespeaks of someone who is a charlatan, someone who knows what they are doing, leading someone else, wanting to believe in them, astray. That is the kind of thing which is questionable, and that is the kind of thing which provides more than a little sense of uneasiness when one begins to examine the relationship between Balthasar and von Speyr. Even if one credits Balthasar as capable enough of discerning the truth, and his judgment is correct, it is easy to see why this kind of work and this kind of activity nonetheless will raise more than one eyebrow when examined, and one could question why Balthasar thought it was important to have such a work published. Of course, one could suggest answers; perhaps Balthasar, in believing her, believed her experiences were meant to be shared with the Church, no matter how disturbing they might seem to the reader. Or perhaps Balthasar thought it was important to be transparent, to let others decide for themselves of the authenticity of what he recorded, and in this sense, showing a sense of humility.
Here are a few short examples of what one could find in this book:
On Constantine: “There is more to report about his disposition than about his prayer. The fact that he converted to Christianity means, for him, that he strives to have a Christian disposition; he acknowledges the greatness of the Lord, and he accepts the faith, which becomes eminently important to him. But he has difficulties being a Christian, because he is, so to speak, blinded by the greatness of Christianity.” (35).
Michelangelo: “He has, so to speak, a double piety. The one is inherited; one could also say it is tied to the Church; he says the Church’s prayers, receives the sacraments, carries out the practices of worship, just as the Church stipulates them for good, average Christians. And while he carries out these prayers and practices, his mind remains narrow in a sense; that is, he does not reflect on them. He prays in a straightforward way; he is pious; he gives alms whenever he has something to give; he attempts to do what other Christians do, without questioning it, without a need to enter deeply into the Church’s problems or into the words of her prayers himself.” (104).
Gregory the Great: “The period before his election to the papacy. He does not want altogether to believe he will be chosen, and yet he knows he will. A terrible confusion reigns in his soul. He has the feeling: if he is chosen, it would be wrong, if he is not chosen, it would be even more wrong., because he would truly be able to help the Church. He places the whole thing again and again into God’s hands and is convinced that God will ultimately make the choice.” (349).
Catherine of Genoa: “First observations concerning purity. She proceeds on the basis of her own temptations in order to attain an image of purity. She knows a lot about sin, for she lives in a crude environment. It arises in her like a discrepancy that dominates everything between her spirit and her body: between what she experiences on the outside and what she would like to experience on the inside. Everything that is not devotion, everyday life, she interprets as a temptation, and this is what gives rise to the demands to become pure.” (382).
Teresa of Avila: “A. sees a young girl with awakening desires. She knows she is not permitted to live for herself. And in purity she simply gives everything over to God. She does not touch a thing. She refrains from opening the wrapped presents that she hands over. Perhaps the little girl does not even know to whom it belongs, the present that she is handing over. She does not think it either important or unimportant. She simply knows that it is something over which she does not have disposal, even in thought, something a person neither increases not decreases, something on which a person also cannot draw interest. A person knows only that it could be misused, even already by one’s thoughts. One leaves it over to God…“(401).
It is clear that the Book of All Saints is not meant for everyone, and must not be confused as being a typical book about the lives and activities of the saints. Indeed, not everyone in the book actually is a saint (after all, Judas is one of the case studies in it). Nonetheless, Balthasar’s ability to associate Adrienne’s experiences with real personages will provide a sense, perhaps speculative, of what the saints were like and the kind of spiritual lives they had. It is a new way to learn about the saints and to think about them, and perhaps, if used in this fashion, no matter how one actually wants to understand Adrienne’s mystical experiences, it could provide a new hermeneutical lens one can use to read what they have said, done or written. What will be the result of such an examination? Only time can tell. And it is that which will, in the end, determine the validity of what is said and written in the Book of All Saints.
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