Abstract

Hans Urs von Balthasar is one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century, but often said to have no "social theology". The article seeks to correct that impression. His social theology may be discerned in his practical and theoretical work for the Secular Institutes, his critique of post Enlightenment culture and thinking and the Christocentric basis for ethics, including social ethics. In Thea-Drama, he specifically addresses the nature of the social sciences in the light of his own Trinitarian and "kenotic" metaphysics.