"Creation is Incarnation": Similarity and Difference in Hans Urs von Balthasar's Christology and Theology of Theosis.

This article examines how the concept "creation is incarnation" is interpreted through alternative readings of Maximus the Confessor, focusing on the roles of similarity/identity and dissimilarity/difference in Christology and theosis. It contrasts Jordan Daniel Wood’s critique and alternative reading of Maximus with Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology, highlighting how Balthasar integrates Maximus’s Christology into his account of hypostatic union, trinitarian difference, and creaturely divinization. The analysis challenges the view that the analogia entis (analogy of being) functions as an independent principle in Balthasar’s Christology, instead showing that Balthasar’s theology layers hypostatic, ousianic (essence-related), and trinitarian logics to articulate a theology of creaturely divinization inspired by Maximus. The article contributes to ongoing debates on Maximus’s interpretation and the post-Barthian relationship between metaphysics and doctrine, emphasizing Balthasar’s nuanced synthesis of identity and difference in divine-human union.