What does it mean to be in union with one another? Good question, but one with as many answers as people who could be asked. Therefore, we will look at two individuals, one ancient, one modern, who can hopefully give some insight into this question. In this paper, we will examine the work of modern theologian Hans von Balthasar as elucidated in his short work Truth Is Symphonic and the seven letters of the first century martyr and bishop Ignatius of Antioch.1 More specifically, we will attempt to show how Ignatius’ ideas of unity, personified by the bishop, manifested in communal teaching, and exemplified through individual witness, in many ways run closely parallel to themes that von Balthasar suggests and elaborates in Truth Is Symphonic. First, what is meant by symphonic?
In his work, von Balthasar describes how unity—viewed with some similarity to Ignatius (which will be addressed later in the paper)—is organized in plurality and differentiation. He likens it to a symphony playing a tune. There are many different players, each with his own instrumentation, but disorganized before the coming of Christ: “Before the Word of God became man, the world orchestra was ‘fiddling’ about without any plan: world views, religions, different concepts of the state, each one playing to itself.”2 As the players come into tune, they play the tune given to them by God as conducted by Christ, creating a unity that is not unity, but symphony:
As for the audience, none is envisaged other than the players themselves: by performing the divine symphony – the composition of which can in no way be deduced from the instruments, even in their tonality – they discover why they have been assembled together. Initially, they stand or sit next to one another as strangers, in mutual contradiction, as it were. Suddenly, as the music begins, they realize how they are integrated. Not in unison, but what is far more beautiful – in symphony.3
Ignatius, in his Letter to the Ephesians, chooses the word “symphony” to describe the relationship between congregation and bishop. This word and image are not only used for this prior relationship, but also to explain how bishop, presbytery, and congregation, together in one movement, praise Jesus Christ.4 In this particular letter, the theme of unity is used in conjunction with symphony. For Ignatius, the union of a bishop and his presbytery is likened to that of a musical instrument, a lyre. This unity of bishop and presbytery allow for Jesus Christ to be praised in love, or as Ignatius writes, “Jesus Christ is sung in harmony and symphonic love.”5 Ignatius goes on to commend this to the congregation, encouraging them to “join the chorus, that by being symphonic in your harmony, taking up God’s pitch in unison, you may sing in one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father.”6
Why does Ignatius write this? As previously stated, this imagery is used to describe the relationship between those in leadership and the congregation. For Ignatius, the underlying issue is to stress the unity that is manifested and maintained between the leadership and congregation. In this instance, the unity that is maintained by the congregation with their bishop is a means of showing the unity that exists between not only Christ and the Father, but Christ and the church. Take for example, what Ignatius says in the fifth chapter of his Letter to the Ephesians.
In chapters three and four, Ignatius complements and exhorts the local congregation for being faithful to both Christ and their bishop. It is this trajectory of thought that flows into chapter five, for Ignatius writes again once more to praise the unitizing faith of the congregation, who “are mingled together with [the bishop] as the Church is mingled with Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ with the Father, so that all things may be symphonic in unison.”7 In Ignatius’ thought, the unity that comes with being united to the congregational bishop implies unity with Christ and the Father; this allows Ignatius to follow in this vein, adding that “anyone who is not inside the sanctuary lacks the bread of God.”8 Therefore, this tri-part unity, the unity of congregation-bishop, Church-Christ, and Christ-Father, written in the language of symphonic unison, lies at the heart of Ignatius’ conceptualization of unity.
But while this lies at the center, Ignatius uses other images as well. A striking example, as if to build on that mentioned above, is taken from his Letter to the Magnesians. In the sixth chapter of that work, Ignatius portrays the bishop “presiding in the place of God and the presbyters in the place of the council of the apostles and the deacons…entrusted with the ministry of Jesus Christ.”9 As to emphasize his point, he elaborates further, stating that “just as the Lord did nothing apart from the Father—being united with him—neither on his own nor through the apostles, so too you should do nothing apart from the bishop and the presbyters.”10
In his Letter to the Trallians, Ignatius underscores the necessity of unity with the bishop, for “the one who does anything apart from the bishop, the presbytery, and the deacons is not pure in conscience.”11 For Ignatius, this impurity of conscience is related to the formation of an individual’s Christian character. This formation is only possible within the context of the church, not outside; therefore the stress in other sections of his corpus on the conformity with the bishop, who is the teacher of the flock and congregation.12 Ignatius summarizes himself concisely on this point: “Thus the head cannot be born without the other parts, because God promises unity, which he himself is.”13
For Ignatius, “symphonic unison” includes the correspondence between teaching and leadership. In other words, the bishop is the center of teaching, and those who are gathered and united with the bishop as “strings on a lyre”14, are correct in their vision of Jesus Christ as well. He writes that “it is fitting not only to be called Christians, but also to be Christians, just as there are some who call a person the bishop but do everything without him. Such persons do not seem to me to be acting in good conscience, because they do not hold meetings in accordance with the commandment.”15
Before exploring this point, let us take note of two things. Ignatius is consistently appealing in his letters that the congregations remember and teach the humanity of Christ; it is of importance for Ignatius that the churches do this.16 Second, Ignatius is adamant on the unity of the congregation with the bishop celebrating the Eucharist, which is a reflection of the synthesis of correct teaching and higher leadership.
Therefore, in his Letter to the Philadelphians, Ignatius makes the connection between correct teaching and the bishop, as he notes that those teach contrary to the bishop “abstain from the eucharist and prayer, since they do not confess that the eucharist is the flesh of our savior Jesus Christ.”17 He repeats himself, but with greater detail, in order that the Philadelphians understand his point: “Let no one do anything involving the church without the bishop. Let that eucharist be considered valid that occurs under the bishop of the one to whom he entrusts it. Let the congregation be wherever the bishop is; just as wherever Jesus Christ, there also is the universal church.”18 This unity of the church extends further to the churches throughout the world; in Ignatius’ mind, there is an internal unity that is seen and reflected within the episcopate. Just as Jesus, who is united with us because he is the mind of the Father (that is, the expression of the Father’s will and good pleasure), so are all the bishops in the world of one mind.19
For Ignatius, the consistent appeal to the unity of bishop-Christ-congregation is on the order of faithful witness. In faithful witness, there is the power of God, “for if the prayer of one or two persons has such power, how much more will that of the bishop and the entire church?”20 To put it another way, the tenacious use of language and metaphors is an exhortation. It is an exhortation of one who is on his way to martyrdom, desiring to be a faithful martyr, wishing “to be allowed to fight the beasts in Rome, that by doing so [Ignatius] might be able to be a disciple.”21
So what does this mean for von Balthasar? We earlier used the word “symphony” to describe both the Ignatian and von Balthasar’s vision of unity; is this still the case? Ignatius’ idea of symphony is in the relationship between the three components – bishop, congregation, and Christ – portraying the living witness of Christ, but how does von Balthasar, a theologian and Christian of a different age and time, compare in this way on the question of symphony and unity?
For von Balthasar, any talk must begin with the centrality of Christ, and his participation with us. Von Balthasar argues that it is God’s infinite freedom, manifested within the infinity of aspects in Christ, which grounds any discussion of the church.22 Balthasar gives an illustration for his point: through the sacraments, preaching, all the dogmas of the faith, Christ is objectified; they reveal Christ, but only in a manner which makes him slightly obscured.23 From within the Church, all these things are “in reality modes of existence of Christ, who is at work in the world through his living Holy Spirit.”24 Balthasar uses the imagery of Scripture to deepen his point. While at the same time Scripture is the word of God, from within, subjectively, Scripture is given power and vivified by the power of the Spirit.25
He continues, adding that
Illumination can only come through being joined in the body of Christ. By being joined, not by making a comparison. For the Church is not merely metaphorically the body of Christ, but by the power of the Eucharist it is that part of mankind that he has joined to his personal body in such a way that he lives in the Church as the soul lives in the body. The image is imperfect, for he has his own body; it exercises its being within the body of the Church without dissolving and being subsumed into it, because his (Eucharistic) body is a transfigured body that is no longer subject to the destiny of mortal things.26
And it is this Eucharistic presence that is brought into the world, the presence of the Church gathering the world into itself.27 But this is not enough. The Church, while being open to the world, must do so as the Church; the identity of the Church, as the body of Christ, interiorly must be maintained at all times.28 For Balthasar, this adherence to self-identity allows the possibility of sacrament to occur. Sacraments are gifts to those who are only in a position to receive, and it is by receiving that the Church can give in return.29 In its interiority, the sacrament of ordination exists; the office of priest is to nourish those who go out into the world. Priests “keep open the believers’ direct access to the original sources of salvation.”30
This momentum builds to a crescendo for Balthasar. The office of the ordained is primarily one of mission, in that “Church office ultimately guarantees that the Christians’ love for another…will not become closed in on itself in the manner of a sect.”31 In other words, the Church is not restricted to dualisms between those who are of greater love than others. A Church that is such is closed to the world, and not catholic. It cannot be unitary.32
Why does he make this particular point? The priesthood is the means by which individual experience is “forced” onto a higher level of renunciation; “it is Church office that wrests the individual’s own criteria from him and hands them over to the Lord of the Church, guaranteeing that the Church’s experience of love shall transcend itself in the direction of the love of Christ and shall overcome all its subjectivisms and attain…objectivity.”33 For von Balthasar, this is the only legitimate experience of love within the Church. Anything else will not endure.
So how does this relate to Ignatius? In chapter five in his Letter to the Ephesians, Ignatius creates a large structure of resounding praise to the Father; through the congregation, to the bishop, in Jesus Christ, the Ephesians are recognized as members of the Son and known by their works.34 The Ephesians, known by their works, are a congregation who are perfecting the love that von Balthasar speaks of; it is by their growth in unifying love that Ignatius can praise them for being mingled with their bishop to such a degree that they are one as the Father and Son are one.35
Therefore, to be symphonic is to grow in love, but only with those who are appointed in order to tend that love, tending in a manner which is both objectively correct and subjectively powerful. For both Ignatius and von Balthasar, this is the meaning of unity.
