The Poem as Sacrament: The Theological Aesthetic of Gerard Manley Hopkins

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Peeters Publishers, 2000 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 260 pages
Through a study of the writings and intellectual development of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Dr. Philip Ballinger demonstrates why poetry is, as Hans Urs von Balthasar stated, "the absolutely appropriate theological language". While circling Hopkins' visions of the nature of sensual experience, intuitive cognition, and the function of language, Ballinger focuses upon the sacramental intention of the Victorian Jesuit's poetry. Underlying Hopkins' poetry is a vision of reality as divinely revelatory or 'self-expressive'. For Hopkins, this revelatory character of creation is determined by the incarnation, and beauty, in fact, is a word for 'Christic self-expressiveness'.

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Contents

General introduction
1
Biographical chronology
23
E Ruskin and Hopkins Ideas of Inscape and Instress
51
Chapter
61
A Critical History of Hopkins Scotism
111
Two Centers of Scotian Influence
119
E Hopkins and Intuitive Cognition
131
103
141
Chapter
151
Hans Urs von Balthasar and Hopkins Theological
160
Conclusion
233
Bibliography
243
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