Question of Trust_ , ed. D. W. Harding (Birmingham, Alabama: Summa, 1987), 22–26. This paragraph is indebted to G. F. Else, _Healing the Heart of God: The Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar_ (New York: Crossroad, 1994), 28–30. Ibid., 33–34. Ibid., 34. See, e.g., John of the Cross, _Dark Night of the Soul,_ trans. E. Allison Peers, C. S. Heim (New York: Harper & Row, 1960), 66, where John expresses bewilderment that he can understand so much of nature through his senses but not God's hidden, eternal essence. In the fourth vision (68) of the _Revelation of St. John_ , John receives a vision of God from God himself. In the visions of John's "I" in _The Divine Dialogue_ , however, God acts on behalf of man's free will, revealing to the mind its participation in God's divine eternity, which contains all creation. This quote, although not identified by Balthasar as an author's rendering of Bernard's teaching, is reminiscent of Bernard, who says that "in the divine and in the human mind there is the same light, although the lights are dissimilar." See Bernard of Clairvaux, _Selected Works_ , ed. S. B. Brodman et al. (New York: Paulist Press, 1990), 57–58. Balthasar, _Love Alone_ , 17. G. F. Else, _Gudetan Tjente-Ar_ : _The Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar_ (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), 39–40. Else comments that to "see God" is to see a non-self but nevertheless to be the source of a "radiance" that one must learn to "receive from the one who is above everything, even from God." Else continues: "We also see that in Balthasar's view the human 'I' is always dependent on God. However, this 'I' is in fact a source of knowledge and light for humanity, for 'we are light because we have seen the light.'" Else explains that Balthasar's doctrine of "seeing God" "comes from his own experience of religious faith, which is nothing less than a response to the overwhelming joy which comes to one when one encounters the light and grace of God." Else, _Gudetan Tjente-Ar_ , 40. Balthasar, _Dark Night of the Soul,_ 65. Balthasar, _Love Alone_ , 20–21. Else, commenting on this statement, says that we "gain access to divine reality in relation to the mind of God. The intellect and the will of God are the light of our hearts. The same is true of what Christ has done and suffered in his incarnation: he is light for us and gives us light." Else, _Gudetan Tjente-Ar_ , 39. G. F. Else, _Gudetan Tjente-Ar_ , 41. Else's insight on "the 'I' of the mind," in relation to the "I" of the heart, makes it clear that the "I" of the heart and mind are not two and therefore not opposed to each other, but are bound together as a complementary whole and cannot exist apart from each other. G. F. Else, _Gudetan Tjente-Ar_ , 40–41. Else says that Bernard says that "our mind and heart are one and the same, and they act as one mind and one heart, as the one person who feels and knows and chooses. . . . We have a mind and heart because we were made in the image of God, and because we are created in the image of God as image and likeness and in order to know God. We are thus in heaven, in the heart of God, on the way to eternal life with God" (61–62). Else adds that "Bernard is talking about our participation in God in relation to the divine love" (61). Else concludes that Balthasar is in agreement with Bernard in the doctrine of light, saying that "for Balthasar the 'I' is also, and finally, the source of knowledge of God. The 'I' is 'this mind and heart that God has given us, this light which he has given us, and which we can receive and become part of because we are created in his image and likeness.'" Else adds that Balthasar "argues that by receiving divine wisdom we participate in God's wisdom and light." Else, _Gudetan Tjente-Ar_ , 43–44. Else suggests that this doctrine of "the mind and heart as one and the same" may derive from Irenaeus, who suggests that "God knows and sees all men in his heart, because all have the same mind and heart, although they do not know it." _Adversus Haereses,_ I, 21, 4, in _A Biblical Introduction to the New Testament: The History of the Biblical Writings and Its Transmission in Early Christianity_ , ed. G. F. Hawthorne and H.W. Bailey (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 3:1522–3. This passage echoes Augustine's _Confessions_ in some ways. See L. J. Reynolds, "H. U. von Balthasar as Spiritual Commentator," in _Giving Spiritual Form: The Work of Hans Urs von Balthasar_ , ed. L. J. Reynolds and T. O'Connell (New York: Crossroad, 1989), 65. This passage is analogous to C. H. Dodd, _The Epistle of Paul to the Romans_ (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1933), 13, 34. J. H. A. Chavasse, _The Divine Revelation_ , vol. 3, _Hans Urs von Balthasar_ (New York: Crossroad, 1985), 1–2. Balthasar, _Love Alone_ , 24. C. F. D. Moule, _The Vision of God: A Study in the Spirituality of St. Bernard of Clairvaux_ (Huntington, Indiana: Judson Press, 1940), 1:36, says of Bernard that "he [Bernard] often speaks as if it were impossible for man's human intellect to penetrate so far as to comprehend God. To suppose that God ever revealed himself except to a specially chosen people, or to any created being other than men, would be blasphemy; but in their case the light was revealed." Bernard is of the opinion that God's "truths" are inexpressible to human language, and that our language is not adequate to communicate them (77–78). _Meditation on the Incarnation_ 1:20–21. F. W. Norris, _Knowledge of God and Gratitude: An Essay on Hans Urs von Balthasar's "Theodicy"_ (Wilmington, Del.: Michael Glazier, 1980), 11. Cf. C. S. Lewis, _A Preface to "Paradise Lost":_ _Towards a Literary Understanding of Paradise Lost_ (New York: Macmillan, 1962), 41–47. E. H. Colwell, _Christian Theology in a Nutshell_ (Chicago: Moody, 1964), 10–11. Ibid., 12. Ibid., 13. _Eschatological Reflections_ , vol. 2, _Theological Criticism of Hans Urs von Balthasar's_ _Theodicy_ , trans. G. F. Else (New York: Crossroad, 1987), 28–29. Ibid., 30–31. Ibid., 32. Else says that Balthasar's "use of the word 'world' is related to the world as _cosmos_." Else also offers this example: "Balthasar uses the word 'world' about the universe, the totality of creation, which is the subject matter of this article. A world as _cosmos_ is not opposed to another world, that of the _kosmos_ , or even a _kosmos_ on earth. It is also possible to say 'I am a world' to mean 'I am a human being.'" Else, _Gudetan Tjente-Ar_ , 31. Else suggests that Balthasar is suggesting that in some sense we live in the world, but in another sense we are not "in" the world, or "of" the world, because we are of and with God. Else comments that Balthasar does not say that the world is God but that the cosmos is God. He writes, "The world has become God. It has become God in the sense that the totality of creation, which is the world, is _theological_ reality. The world is God's creation. Therefore we live in the world, but we are not of the world; we live in the world because the cosmos is God." Else, _Gudetan Tjente-Ar_ , 31. Else thinks that the distinction made between "world" and "cos