Whoever removes the Cross and its interpretation by the New Testament from the center, in order to replace it, for example, with the social commitment of Jesus to the oppressed as a new center, no longer stands in continuity with the apostolic faith.

Von Balthasar is drawing a boundary around what he considers the doctrinal “center” of Christianity: the Cross as interpreted by the New Testament (i.e., the paschal mystery understood as redemptive sacrifice, reconciliation, and revelation). He argues that if this center is displaced—so that Jesus’ social solidarity with the oppressed becomes the primary interpretive key—then the resulting theology is no longer continuous with apostolic Christianity. The point is not to deny the ethical and social implications of the Gospel, but to insist that they flow from, and cannot replace, the Cross and resurrection as the decisive saving event and hermeneutical core of faith.