The Christian and Anxiety

Rating:
Summary: What Theology Should Be
Review: Many accuse theology of being meaningless bickering over what we cannot verify. Von Balthasar happily topples those prejudices with this book, which is not only a profound look at the human condition and Scripture, but is also a strong challenge to the reader. The Christian and Anxiety starts with a chapter on what anxiety means in Scripture. This first Chapter alone would merit a purchase, as von Balthasar pulls together many threads from the Wisdom literature of the OT (e.g., Proverbs, Wisdom, Sirach, etc.) to give us a Scriptural review of anxiety. I found this very fruitful, and has caused me to go back to a couple books of the Bible for a new look. Von Balthasar then goes on in the next two chapters to reflect on the theological and philosophical underpinning of anxiety. This becomes tough, involved reading, and I'll be musing over this part of the book for some time, but you do come away with a new understanding about anxiety, which seems to be a very representative emotion for the modern West. Some books are difficult because the writing is poor, or the thoughts are disconnected, and some books are difficult because the author enters into a deep subject and does justice to it. The Christian and Anxiety fits in with the latter, and I highly recommend it as a worthy investment.