Der Ernstfall. Il problema dell'apocalittica nelle riflessioni teologiche di Hans Urs von Balthasar e Rudolf Bultmann

This article aims at comparing the reflections of H.U. von Balthasar and R. Bultmann on the problem of apocalyptics. Their two alternative ways of understanding Apocalypse, as a theophany of divine «theo-drama» or as the main object of Christian kerygmatic demythologization, can be considered as paradigmatic options in the history of theology, that have opposite effects on the religious, political and cultural experience. In this way, it will emerge how apocalypticism is the basic criterion (der Ernstfall), the serious case, the cypher on which to evaluate aspects characterizing the different definitions of Christian identity.