This is an account, at once rigorously theological and warmly devotional, of the death and resurrection of Christ, and their significance for the Christian life. Von Balthasar offers sharp insights into some current controversies-for example, the 'bodiliness' of the Resurrection-and spiritual inspiration for the year round. This scholarly reflection of the climax of the Christian year is an established classic of contemporary Catholic theology.

As a text for college or graduate student courses, as a scholarship reference, and as a guide for interested educated laity, "The Trinity and the Paschal Mystery" is an exhilarating and invigorating journey into the most central of the Christian mysteries, the triune God. The book is a valuable and thought-provoking resource that complements and enriches current theologies of the Trinity.

In Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Critical Appropriation of Russian Religious Thought, Jennifer Newsome Martin offers the first systematic treatment and evaluation of the Swiss Catholic theologian’s complex relation to modern speculative Russian religious philosophy. Her constructive analysis proceeds through Balthasar’s critical reception of Vladimir Soloviev, Nicholai Berdyaev, and Sergei Bulgakov with respect to theological aesthetics, myth, eschatology, and Trinitarian discourse and examines how Balthasar adjudicates both the possibilities and the limits of theological appropriation, especially considering the degree to which these Russian thinkers have been influenced by German Idealism and Romanticism. Martin argues that Balthasar’s creative reception and modulation of the thought of these Russian philosophers is indicative of a broad speculative tendency in his work that deserves further attention. In this respect, Martin consciously challenges the prevailing view of Balthasar as a fundamentally conservative or nostalgic thinker. In her discussion of the relation between tradition and theological speculation, Martin also draws upon the understudied relation between Balthasar and F. W. J. Schelling, especially as Schelling's form of Idealism was passed down through the Russian thinkers. In doing so, she persuasively recasts Balthasar as an ecumenical, creatively anti-nostalgic theologian hospitable to the richness of contributions from extra-magisterial and non-Catholic sources.

The Wisdom and Power of the Cross is the fifth and final entry in Richard Viladesau's well-regarded series on the theology of the cross, from the historical crucifixion of Jesus to the present day. Continuing his analysis of theological history through cultural contexts, this volume correlates theoretical approaches with artistic representations, showing the relation of theoretical to imaginative approaches. The Wisdom and Power of the Cross examines modern and contemporary thought and images, which look at the cross in the light of modern historical and scriptural studies, science, and the novelties of modern and post-modern art and music. Viladesau here considers how the passion of Christ has been thought about by theologians and portrayed by artists in the modern world. Contemporary art and music reveal the lasting power of traditional images of the passion, as well as new possibilities for expression. The Wisdom and Power of the Cross surveys both traditional approaches to soteriology and revisionist theologies that take up the challenge of the meaning of the cross today, in light of critical historical studies and modern science, providing new understandings of traditional concepts like "original sin" and "redemption". Through his in-depth exploration of the interweaving of aesthetic and conceptual theology, Viladesau once more deepens our understanding of the foremost symbol of Christianity and its role in salvation history.

Suffering may be universal, but it is not universally understood. In this collection, scholars from many nations and disciplines explore theoretical and practical approaches to understanding suffering as well as the ethics and effects of representing suffering in art and literature.

How does the Christian proclamation of salvation in Jesus Christ relate to the lives of the people who suffer most? Does salvation consist entirely of the hope for eternal life with God? How might the church effectively preach the message of salvation in Christ today? In Jesus and Salvation, Robin Ryan adopts a historical approach to these questions, discussing key themes and classic authors in the developing tradition about Christ the Savior. He examines modern soteriology by engaging the thought of Karl Rahner, Edward Schillebeeckx, Gustavo Gutiérrez, and Elizabeth Johnson. He also discusses contemporary conceptions of salvation within an evolutionary view of the cosmos as well as issues related to the Christian confession of Jesus as universal savior in a religiously pluralistic world. Ryan concludes by offering his own reflections on the meaning of salvation from God in Jesus Christ. By understanding salvation in Christ as both gift and call, Ryan invites readers to recognize in the saving grace of God a responsibility for the well-being of the human family and the rest of creation.

Pope John Paul II and Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) both held Hans Urs von Balthasar in high regard. Many assume that their praise of Balthasar indicates approval of his controversial theology of Holy Saturday, but this book by Lyra Pitstick shows that conclusion to be far from accurate. Pitstick looks at what John Paul II, Ratzinger, and Balthasar have in fact said regarding the creedal affirmation that Christ “descended into hell,” and she shows that there are radical differences in their views. She then addresses a number of important questions that follow from these differences. This careful, concise exploration of what three of the twentieth century’s most famous Catholic theologians had to say about Christ’s descent into hell provides an accessible take on a difficult point of theological debate.