Students of Catholic theology are often presented with a choice between Thomas Aquinas and Hans Urs von Balthasar as the best masters to follow. What starts as a genial rivalry can sometimes morph into a less well-tempered competition. Since Aquinas is the classic theologian of the Latin tradition, readers and devotees of Balthasar can hardly repudiate Thomas. But Thomists are under no comparable obligation to develop a sympathy for Balthasar...