Hans Urs Von Balthasar: una vocación y existencia teológicas

Abstract

We approach the biography of von Balthasar, basing ourselves on five of the most significant moments of his life, while always bearing in mind that, if we really want to understand both the man and his work, we cannot separate his personal biography from his theological work and ecclesiastical mission. Balthasar is a systematic theologian and his work can be considered as the Summa Theologica of the 20th century of Catholic theology. This Summa is elaborated from a centre which holds everything else together: Trinitarian christology. This inaprehensible centre of the figure of Christ, whose uniqueness of person and universality of mission is founded on the mystery of the Trinity, is the key-stone of the arch on which our author integrates the rest of the dogmatic treatises. Every great theologian however has his shadow side and his limitations. Because of this, it is legitimate to wonder out loud about some of the critical aspects of his theology. All of this sheds light on his theological work from four perspectives: the height, the depth, the breadth and the length of Theology.