Balthasar and Prayer by Travis LaCouter (College of the Holy Cross, USA.)
This study renders an original and constructive Catholic theology of prayer drawing on the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988). Travis LaCouter explores the trinitarian, Christological, ecclesial, anthropological, and eschatological dimensions of prayer in Balthasars theology, and shows how these combine to give a powerful account of prayers proper theological scope and purpose. There is also a critical dimension of prayer which is arguably underdeveloped in some of Balthasars key texts, but which LaCouter shows to have significant dialogical potential with contemporary accounts of parrhesia since Foucault. This approach demonstrates the centrality of prayer to Balthasars entire theological system and does so in a way which itself constitutes an exercise in Catholic systematics. This study is also distinctive for establishing a method of proceeding through Balthasars sprawling oeuvre (and the similarly vast secondary literature) by arguing for three categories of texts in Balthasars writings and, separately, three waves of Balthasar readers. Thus, this study is a resource not just for those interested in prayer but for anyone interested in reading Balthasar today.