Analysis Of Von Balthasar's 'A Riddle Unto Itself'

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The life of each human being is a mystery. The only thing that we know for sure is that we are all going to die at some point in our lives and that everything that happens in between, from the moment that we are born to the moment we die, is uncertain. Many of the readings from Von Balthasar help us understand this mystery, of what it is to be a human being and that there could be something beyond ourselves that gives meaning to our lives. Of all of the readings, there were four passages that stood out to me: “A Riddle unto Itself”, “Course through Time”, “Man and Woman” and “Marriage – Event and Institution”. Anyone who might be trying to figure out what is the meaning of their life should read these passages since they unfold the answer to many of the question that they could be trying to find out. The first passage, “A Riddle unto Itself” talks about the idea that I human being is like a riddle. However, as we know, riddles are meant to be solved, but if a human being is a riddle, “that it would thus be a contradiction if it solved its own puzzle because it would not longer be this enigma” (60). Because the human by itself cannot solve its own riddle, then someone has to solve or give the answers to that human, but who would this someone be. I would say that this is the …show more content…

As years go by in the life of a human being, it is inevitable to not see a change in that human being, regardless whether those changes are physical and or mental. Supposing that every human being stayed with the mentality of a child, the world would be incoherent because none of the humans would be capable of passing that phase of their life and gaining the knowledge and experience that would allow them to continue to the next phase of their

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