Hans Urs von Balthasar exégeta del Nuevo Testamento: Interpretación y acontecimiento de salvación

Abstract

This article proposes to shed light upon the biblical exegetical method used by Hans Urs von Balthasar in his studies of the New Testament. Three simple argumentative steps are followed. First, the method is described by use of definitions and explanations of the author himself at a rather theoretical level. Then this is illustrated with an example of concrete interpretation: the exegetical and hermeneutic commentary on the petition for glorification that Jesus makes to his Father (Jn 17: 1-5) in the volume dedicated to the New Testament from the Swiss theologian's famous work Glory of the Lord (Part IV, Volume seven). Finally, the principal contributions of his method to exegesis and biblical theology are treated. Among these latter, the attention Balthasar lends to the interpreters' participation in the salvation event claims special resonance. In effect, only the person who lives the Paschal Mystery can, in the final analysis, understand and explain it convincingly. Concretely, upon engaging in the exegesis of the New Testament and, then, reflecting upon its theological content, the believer can make precise sense of it, for he or she lives and possesses its nucleus or center.