"What Von Balthasar assumes as the presupposition of his system is the primacy of love in relation to reason, of the will in relation to intelligence, of charity in relation to faith. He also pays tribute to philosophical evolutionism - not the linear and “positive” evolution of Teilhard, but the dialectical and tragic evolution of Hegel. History would be the struggle between two principles: justice and mercy, represented respectively by God the Father and God the Son. Jesus Christ would have become incarnate in order to “defeat” the supremacy of justice, faith, and logic, and to replace them with mercy, charity, and charm. Evil itself and those who are bad would not be capable of resisting the force of the attraction of love. Judas, heretics, those condemned to hell, and even the demons themselves would feel “understood” by this irresistible message of love and would have adhered to it in the depths of their hearts. Peter, yes; but John more than Peter. John, yes; but Dismas (the good thief) more than John. Dismas, yes; but Gesdras (the bad thief) more than Dismas. And thus, from the strength of love and mercy, the institutional Church is displaced by the “Church of Love,” and the latter, in turn, is displaced by the “Church of the condemned,” those who would be more united to Christ at the height of the Cross than the others. In order to “prove” these points, von Balthasar makes use of a notable historical, philosophical, and artistic erudition, which confers to his system a broad visualization. Attractive to romantic spirits and much in vogue in these sad days of unbridled ecumenism, the Theology of Love nonetheless suffers from the fundamental error of subordinating faith to charity. Only one of the consequences of this is that Catholic dogmas are now abdicated in favor of the union of the various religions. "

"To fully appreciate the importance of this work, a word about the role played by the thinking of Karl Rahner is indispensable. The influence of Rahner at the Ecumenical Council Vatican II was greater than that of the two preceding theologians. First, because the two others were not present: Teilhard died in 1955, and von Balthasar could not participate because of the publication of his work Razing the Bastions, which at that time was considered very radical and progressivist."

Extraits de "A Critical Examination of the Theology of Karl Rahner" par Robert C. McCarthy.