Does Jesus Know Us?: Do We Know Him?

by Hans Urs von Balthasar

Only one who is convinced that he knows Jesus as a person and that Jesus has personal knowledge of him has truly entered into his Christian faith. Balthasar sets forth and explains the Scriptural evidence for our ability to know the Lord.

Genres: Theology

99 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1983

About the author

Hans Urs von Balthasar was a Swiss theologian and priest who was nominated to be a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is considered one of the most important theologians of the 20th century.

Born in Lucerne, Switzerland on 12 August 1905, he attended Stella Matutina (Jesuit school) in Feldkirch, Austria. He studied in Vienna, Berlin and Zurich, gaining a doctorate in German literature. He joined the Jesuits in 1929, and was ordained in 1936. He worked in Basel as a student chaplain. In 1950 he left the Jesuit order, feeling that God had called him to found a Secular Institute, a lay form of consecrated life that sought to work for the sanctification of the world especially from within. He joined the diocese of Chur. From the low point of being banned from teaching, his reputation eventually rose to the extent that John Paul II asked him to be a cardinal in 1988. However he died in his home in Basel on 26 June 1988, two days before the ceremony. Balthasar was interred in the Hofkirche cemetery in Lucern.

Along with Karl Rahner and Bernard Lonergan, Balthasar sought to offer an intellectual, faithful response to Western modernism. While Rahner offered a progressive, accommodating position on modernity and Lonergan worked out a philosophy of history that sought to critically appropriate modernity, Balthasar resisted the reductionism and human focus of modernity, wanting Christianity to challenge modern sensibilities.

Balthasar is very eclectic in his approach, sources, and interests and remains difficult to categorize. An example of his eclecticism was his long study and conversation with the influential Reformed Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, of whose work he wrote the first Catholic analysis and response. Although Balthasar's major points of analysis on Karl Barth's work have been disputed, his The Theology of Karl Barth: Exposition and Interpretation (1951) remains a classic work for its sensitivity and insight; Karl Barth himself agreed with its analysis of his own theological enterprise, calling it the best book on his own theology.

Balthasar's Theological Dramatic Theory has influenced the work of Raymund Schwager.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It is a fact: only a person who is convinced that Jesus knows him personally gains access to knowledge of him. And only the person who is confident of knowing him as he is, can know that he is also known by him." from the introduction.

Hans Urs von Balthasar asks how does Jesus know us and answers quite intimately - knowing our hearts, our temptations, and by taking our place. Human knowledge of Jesus comes first from being known by Jesus, upturning so many scholarly attempts at some disinterested knowledge of Jesus. Full of Balthasar's wonderful descriptions of God (especially as Trinity) and his actions to redeem and make a people.

[Anthony Risson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful work by Balthasar. Will want to read again to digest his words fully. Appreciated his perspective and rigour, even in such a small offering

[Manuel Taboada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breve pero profundo libro del gran teólogo Hans Urs Von Balthasar, en el cual se plantean dos preguntas: Hasta que punto tenía Jesús conocimiento directo de la experiencia humana, y si es posible para el hombre el conocimiento de Jesús, y a través del mismo como exégesis perfecta, el de Dios. Es un libro para leer despacio, en ocasiones es necesario retroceder unas páginas para recapitular ideas y poder retomar el sentido del discurso, pero merece la pena.

[James Passaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

For what it was, it was sweet little book filled with Scripture references about what it means to be known to and to know Jesus. I enjoyed it very much

[Pablo Frausto · Rating 4 out of 5]

El conocimiento de Cristo se logra simultanéamente yendo desde el fin hacia el comienzo, y desde el comienzo hasta el fin.

[Shu · Rating 3 out of 5]

“No longer are the knowledge of Jesus and the knowledge of those who are his two separate things; they constitute a single life-process, like an ellipse with two foci and a single orbit around them.”

[Tom Barmaryam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read...

[Conor · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many beautiful gems in this book.