Leaven without Loss: Church and World across Balthasar’s Corpus

Abstract

This essay argues that despite a tonal shift in his post-conciliar writings, Balthasar’s Church-world construal remains consistent. This relationship is characterized by a dialectical pairing of themes which receive relative emphasis at different stages. The constellation of similar images which Balthasar employs to depict the missionary nature of the Church—yeast, leaven, salt, light, sacrament—highlights this dual-dynamic. The Church is tasked with transforming culture from within. To perform this properly, she must be open to the world yet unique within it—in solidarity without dissolving her distinct message or institutional mediation. Earlier in his career, the solidarity/openness pole merited emphasis because of the Church’s anti-modernist tendencies. Later, he became wary of the encroachment of Enlightenment rationalism—which tended to relativize the Church’s unique identity and contribution—into the Catholic Church. According to Balthasar, the Church is called to leaven the world without such a loss.