The object of these Elucidations (first published by Herder in 1971) is summed up in its subtitle: Exercises in Discernment of Spirits. The present book thus serves, in Balthasar’s own words, to “offer a concise and summary treatment of a few essential questions concerning the substance of the Christian life, experience, and faith, which today are in dispute or — as is true of the majority — are disappearing into oblivion. Each chapter stands on its own; the order is of no importance. Together they bear witness to an underlying view of things; they are a few rays which all radiate from the same center” (from the author’s Preface).