What the Father gives is the capacity to be a self, freedom, and thus autonomy, but an autonomy which can be understood only as a surrender of self to the other.

Saints appear as an example of the lived Christian life throughout his writings. Hans Urs von Balthasar (12 August 1905 Lucerne – 26 June 1988 Basel) was a Swiss theologian and priest (incardinated into Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur) who was to be created a cardinal of the Catholic Church but died before the ceremony.

He is considered one of the most important theologians of the 20th century.