Wiley Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Blackwell Companions to Religion
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 2585

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCHOLARLY SURVEY OF KARL BARTH’S THEOLOGY EVER PUBLISHED

Karl Barth, perhaps the most influential theologian of the 20^th century, is widely considered one of the greatest thinkers within the history of the Christian tradition. Readers of Karl Barth often find his work both familiar and strange: the questions he considers are the same as those Christian theologians have debated for centuries, but he often addresses these questions in new and surprising ways. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth helps readers understand Barth’s theology and his place in the Christian tradition through a new lens.

Covering nearly every topic related to Barth’s life and thought, this work spans two volumes, comprising 66 in-depth chapters written by leading experts in the field. Volume One explores Barth’s dogmatic theology in relation to traditional Christian theology, provides historical timelines of Barth’s life and works, and discusses his significance and influence. Volume Two examines Barth’s relationship to various figures, movements, traditions, religions, and events, while placing his thought in its theological, ecumenical, and historical context. This groundbreaking work:

• Places Barth into context alongside major figures in the history of Christian thought, presenting a critical dialogue between them
• Features contributions from a diverse team of scholars, each of whom are experts in the subject
• Provides new readers of Barth with an introduction to the most important questions, themes, and ideas in Barth’s work
• Offers experienced readers fresh insights and interpretations that enrich their scholarship

An important contribution to the field of Barth scholarship, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth is an indispensable resource for scholars and students interested in the work of Karl Barth, modern theology, or systematic theology.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Volume 1

Preface

List of Contributors

Primary Text Abbreviations

Part I: The Life of Karl Barth

Karl Barth Professional Timeline

Karl Barth Personal Timeline

CHAPTER 1: Karl Barth's Historical and Theological Significance

Return to the Bible, Focus on “die Sache”

God as the Wholly Other

Barth's Political Critiques

A Theology Outdated?

Barth's Ongoing Theological Significance

References

Part II: Barth on Doctrinal Topics

CHAPTER 2: Barth on the Trinity

The Root of the Doctrine

Revelation/Reconciliation

Methodological Concerns

The Holy Spirit as Lord

Primary and Secondary Objectivity

Tritheism/Modalism

References

CHAPTER 3: Barth on the

Filioque

The

Filioque

Debate: A Brief Historical Sketch

Karl Barth's Developing Position on the

Filioque

Barth's Enduring Contribution to the

Filioque

Controversy

References

CHAPTER 4: Barth on Divine Election

Introduction

(I) Precedents and Development

(II) The Election of God

(III) The Scriptural Impulse in Barth on Election

(IV) Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 5: Barth on Revelation

The Triune God Is the Self‐Revealing God

The Problem with “Natural Theology”

The God Known by Revelation Alone

The Particularity of Revelation in Jesus Christ and the Question of “General Revelation”

References

CHAPTER 6: Barth on Holy Scripture

CHAPTER 7: Barth on Theological Method

Barth's Early Method

Barth's Mature Method

Potential Objections and Responses

Positivism

References

CHAPTER 8: Barth on Natural Theology

Theology of Crisis

Early Dogmatics

Analogy of Being

Analogy of Faith

German Christians

Creation and Covenant

Other Lights

References

CHAPTER 9: Barth on Creeds and Confessions

Creeds and Confessions in the

Church Dogmatics

Confessionalism, Modernism, and Creeds

CHAPTER 10: Barth on Creation

Introduction: The Problem of Christomonism

Creation Is the External Basis of Covenant (Grace Does Not Destroy Nature)

Covenant Is the Internal Basis of Creation (Grace Perfects Nature)

God's Free Love in Election Is the Eternal Basis of Covenant

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 11: Barth on Providence

Barth's Critique of the Reformed Doctrine of Providence

Providence in Relation with Predestination and Creation

The Threefold Framework of the Doctrine of Providence

References

CHAPTER 12: Barth on the Incarnation

“The Incarnation of the Word” (CD I/2, §§13–15)

“The Way of the Son of God into the Far Country” (CD IV/1, §59.1)

“The Homecoming of the Son of Man” (CD IV/2, §64.2)

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 13: Barth on the Atonement

The Background: Election, Creation, and Anthropology

The Foundation of the Atonement:

Stellvertretung

Autonomy “in Him”

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 14: Barth on Christ's Resurrection

Resurrection as Epistemic Basis

Resurrection as Soteriological Transition

Resurrection as Teleological Culmination

References

CHAPTER 15: Barth on Christ's Ascension

Christ's Ascension as Event

The Dynamic of Presence and Absence

The Ascent of the Son of Man

Jesus Ascended and the Reality of Witness in the “Time Between”

The Being of the Church as Creature of the “Time Between”

The Time Between as the Time of the Church

Life in the Ascended Lord

Criticisms of Barth's Ascension Theology

Final Comments

Further Reading

CHAPTER 16: Barth on Theological Anthropology

Introduction

Divine Determination

Being in Encounter

Men and Women

Soul and Body

Time

Conclusion

Reference

CHAPTER 17: Barth on Sin

The Dogmatic Location and Knowledge of Sin

The Ontology of Sin

Describing Sin

Pride

Sloth

Falsehood

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 18: Barth on Evil and Nothingness

The “Full Scope” of Nothingness

Nothingness as “God's Own Affair”

The “Forms” of Nothingness

Resistance Against Nothingness

References

CHAPTER 19: Barth on Death

Introduction: Death as Created Limit

and

Curse?

Bounded by God: Death as a Horizon for Judgment and Grace

“The Fire of God's Wrathful Love”: Death as Curse

Concluding Thoughts: Death and Eternal Life

References

CHAPTER 20: Barth on the Holy Spirit

Introduction: How to Read Karl Barth's Pneumatology?

Being and Becoming God's Children: A Key Pneumatological Theme

Veni Creator Spiritus

: The Spirit's Prayer and Human Prayer

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 21: Barth on the Church

Barth's Early Reflections on the Church

The Turn to a Constructive Ecclesiology

Church Dogmatics

– Volume One – The Church and Proclamation

Church Dogmatics

– Volume Two (and Three) – The Church and Election

Church Dogmatics

– Volume Four – The Church as a Called and Gathered Community

Church Dogmatics

– Volume Four – The Church as an Ordered and Governed Community

Church Dogmatics

– Volume Four – The Church as a Sent and Witnessing Community

References

CHAPTER 22: Barth on Preaching

The Young Preacher

Preaching Themes in

Romans

The Homiletical Theologian

Barth the Homiletician

Barth the Preacher

Barth's Gifts to Preachers

References

Further Reading

CHAPTER 23: Barth on Baptism

Overview

Spirit Baptism

Water Baptism

The Relation Between Divine and Human Action

Conclusion: Infant Baptism Revisited

References

CHAPTER 24: Barth on the Lord's Supper

Introduction

Development of Barth's View of the Lord's Supper

Recent Interpretations of Barth's View of the Lord's Supper

References

25 Barth on Justification

Introduction

Part I: Justification in the Early Barth

Part II: Justification in Barth's Mature Theology

References

CHAPTER 26: Barth on Sanctification

Introduction

Locating Sanctification

Sanctification, Community, and Incarnation

Sanctification and Vocation

Sanctification and Conversion

Sanctification and “The Praise of Works”

Sanctification and the Bearing of the Cross

References

CHAPTER 27: Barth on Vocation

Introduction

Creation and the Place of Vocation

Reconciliation and the Event of Vocation

Analysis

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 28: Barth on the Church in Mission

Introduction: Variations on “Mission”

“Movement of Serious Import”: Colonial Imagination, Enthusiasm, and Skepticism in Barth's Early Writings

Missio Dei!

Barth's Dialectical Missiology in the “Twilight” of the “Heathen Church” and Fascism's Political Religions

Missio Ecclesiae

: The Sent Community in Barth's Mature Theology

Barth and Beyond: Summary and Outlook

References

CHAPTER 29: Barth on Participation in Christ

Introduction

Revelation

Election and Anthropology

Reconciliation

Barth and

Theosis

Further Reading

CHAPTER 30: Barth on the Christian Life

Introduction

The Christian Life “in Christ”: Real, Hidden, and Yet to Come

The Foundation of the Christian Life: Baptism as First Step

The Invocation of God as the Basic Form of the Christian Ethos

The Christian Life as a Life of Passion: Zeal for the Honor of God

Affections of the Christian Life

The Orderly Revolution: The Christian Life as Struggle for Human Righteousness

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 31: Barth on the Ethics of Creation

Introduction

Ethics as a Task of the Doctrine of Creation

Freedom before God

Freedom in Fellowship

Freedom for Life

Freedom in Limitation

Conclusion

Reference

Further Reading

CHAPTER 32: Barth on Love

God's Love and Our Love

Love for God and Love for the Neighbor

Agape and Eros

Conclusion

CHAPTER 33: Barth on Prayer

The Command of God and the Special Ethics of the Doctrine of Creation

The Command of God and the Special Ethics of the Doctrine of Reconciliation

Prayer

Reference

CHAPTER 34: Barth on Religion

Diverse Perspectives

Religion as Question

Religion in the Perspective of the

Church Dogmatics

The Religious Quandary of the Church

References

Volume 2

Preface

List of Contributors

Primary Text Abbreviations

Part III: Barth and Major Figures

CHAPTER 35: Barth and Augustine

Introduction

Statistics

Barth's Debts to Augustine

Barth's Criticisms of Augustine

Comparing Barth and Augustine

Conclusion

References

Further Reading

CHAPTER 36: Barth and Anselm

Introduction

On the Theological Task

Conclusion

Abbreviations

References

CHAPTER 37: Barth and Aquinas

Introduction

Barth's Thomas

Barth: A Modern Theologian

Thomas: A Dominican Master of Sacra Doctrina

God's Existence and Perfections

Nature and Grace

Ethics

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 38: Barth and Luther

Christocentrism

Theology of the Cross

Primacy of the Word of God

Simul Iustus et Peccator

Grace and Freedom

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 39: Barth and Calvin

Introduction

What John Calvin Wanted: The Next Life Is the Power of This Life

John Calvin and Karl Barth on the Subject Matter of Theology

Departing from Calvin: Grounding the Word of God in the Being of God

Criticizing John Calvin: Jesus Christ and the Eternal Election of God

Deepening Calvin's Insights: Knowledge of God the Creator and Jesus Christ

Reconsidering Calvin: The Knowledge of Ourselves in Jesus Christ

Reconsidering Calvin: Ulrich Zwingli and Baptism

Conclusion: Jesus Christ as the One Word and Work of God

Reference

CHAPTER 40: Barth and Post‐Reformation Theology

A Helpful Discovery

Barth in Conversation: An Overview

The Göttingen Dogmatics as a Commentary on Heppe

Post‐Reformation Theology in the

Church Dogmatics

– Four Examples

References

CHAPTER 41: Barth and Edwards

God and Creation

God's Self‐Revelation and the Divine Attributes

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 42: Barth and Kant

Barth's Ambivalence

Barth's “Yes” to Kant

Barth's “No” to Kant

Kant's Own Position

Barth's Misunderstanding of Kant

A Kantian Retrieval

References

CHAPTER 43: Barth and Hegel

Introduction

A Plain‐Sense Reading of Barth on Hegel

A Reparative Reading of Barth on Hegel

Barth on Hegel for Us

References

Further Reading

CHAPTER 44: Barth and Schleiermacher

Introduction

Before the Wars: The Nineteenth‐Century Inheritance, 1907–1915

Declarations of War, 1915–1921

“A Mobile War”: Professor at Göttingen, Münster, and Bonn

Peacetime Reflections: Basel, 1957–1968

Conclusion: The Humanity of God in Karl Barth

References

CHAPTER 45: Barth and Kierkegaard

The Early Barth's Reception of Kierkegaard

Barth's Emerging Critique of Kierkegaard in the Context of His Contemporaries

Barth's Final Reflections on Kierkegaard

Critical Reflections

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 46: Barth and Bonhoeffer

Extraordinary Influence Yet Critical Distance

Bonhoeffer the Outraged “Barthian”

Speaking Frankly, Yet Warmly in Mutual Respect

With Barth, But Beyond Barth

A Postscript: “I Knew Bonhoeffer Well”

References

CHAPTER 47: Barth and Bultmann

Bultmann: The Path to Dialectical Theology

Spirit and Letter: Barth and Bultmann on Interpretation

Theology, Philosophy, and Politics

Demythologizing

Barth and Bultmann as Figural Readers of Scripture

Conclusion

References

Further Reading

CHAPTER 48: Barth and Tillich

The Doctrine of God

The Nature and Function of Theological Language

Christ and Salvation

References

CHAPTER 49: Barth and Rahner

Some Historical Contexts

How Catholic Should Theology Be?

How Can Theology Be Catholic

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 50: Barth and Balthasar

Introduction

Ecclesial Division: A Puzzling Cleft

Shifts at Vatican II and Barth's Final Public Lecture

The Secular Misery

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 51: Barth and Reinhold Niebuhr

The Inevitable Conflict

Amsterdam

Fellow Traveler?

The Difference Matters

References

CHAPTER 52: Barth and Hans W. Frei

Barth's Break with Liberalism

Barth, Narrative, and Figure

Theology and Philosophy

A Christology “After Barth”

References

CHAPTER 53: Barth and T. F. Torrance

Early Scottish Reception of Barth

Translating the

Kirchliche Dogmatik

Interpretation of Barth's Early Theology

The Torrance‐Blanshard Exchange

Criticisms of Barth

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 54: Barth and Jüngel

Introduction

Barth, the Hermeneutical Turn in Postwar Theology, and Jüngel's “Illegal” Semester Abroad, 1957–1958

The Problem of Analogy,

God's Being Is in Becoming

, and Jüngel's Stint in Zurich, 1966–1969

Jüngel After Barth

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 55: Barth and Charlotte von Kirschbaum

Introduction

Her Active Involvements

Being Together

Summary

References

CHAPTER 56: Barth and Tolkien

Introduction

The Meaning of

Agape

The Mystery of Evil in Barth and Tolkien

The Eschatology of Agape

References

Part IV: Barth and Major Themes

CHAPTER 57: Barth and Modern Liberal Theology

Introduction

The Barthian Revolt

Barth, Herrmann, and Schleiermacher

References

CHAPTER 58: Barth and Biblical Studies

Introduction

Karl Barth and Walter Baumgartner: An Illustrative Case‐in‐Point

Historical Critics Need to Be More Critical

Barth and Historicism

Barth and the History of Religions School

Conclusion: Barth and Critical Methods

References

CHAPTER 59: Barth and Theological Exegesis

Background

“What Is in the Bible?”

A Bitter Enemy of Historical Criticism?

Historical Critics Must Be More Critical

A Relationship of Faithfulness

From Special to General Hermeneutics

Explicatio, Meditatio, Applicatio

References

CHAPTER 60: Barth on Actualistic Ontology

Introduction

“Substantialism” Defined

Substance Grammar:

Natur

and

Wesen

The Process Grammar of “Determination” (

Bestimmung

)

Conclusion: A Chalcedonian Dialectic

References

CHAPTER 61: Barth and Philosophy

Introduction

The Distinction and Indivisibility of Theology and Philosophy

Contesting the Epistemological Assumptions of Enlightenment Modernism

Conclusions About the Relationship Between Theology and Philosophy

References

CHAPTER 62: Barth and the Natural Sciences

Introduction

Theology Among the Sciences

Dodelian Darwinianism

Scripture and the Natural Sciences

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 63: Barth and Interdisciplinary Method

Introduction

Six Criteria for Theological Anthropology

Speculative Theories Versus Exact Sciences

Secular Parables of the Truth: Four Criteria

A Chalcedonian Imagination

A Case Study: Human Trauma

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 64: Barth and Practical Theology

Introduction

The Priority of Revelation and Reconciliation in Practical Theology

The Differentiated Unity of Theology: Dialectical Inclusion

References

CHAPTER 65: Barth and Liberation Theologies

Introduction

God's Mercy

The Believer's Necessary Sociopolitical Response

Diaconal Service

Jesus as the Nonpartisan Revolutionary

Contextuality and Theological Construction

The Affliction and Liberation of the Christian

Conclusion: Toward an Integrated Theology

References

CHAPTER 66: Barth and Near and Distant Neighbors

Introduction

Neighbors and the Problem of Nations

The State and the Problem of War

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 67: Barth and Ecumenism

Ecumenical Engagement from 1922 to 1948

From Amsterdam 1949 to the Visit in Rome 1966

Ecumenism in the Last Years and a Systematic Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 68: Barth and Roman Catholicism

The Great War and the Fate of Protestant Christianity

Early Engagements: Erich Przywara and Erik Peterson

Karl Barth in the Catholic City of Münster 1925–1929

Exploring the

Analogia Entis

with Erich Przywara

Karl Barth Under Pressure: Leaving Germany

Barth's Critique of Catholic Epistemology

Barth's Theology for New Generation of Catholics

Open to Hope: Hans Urs Von Balthasar and Hans Küng on Barth

From the Second Vatican Council to the

Joint Declaration of the Doctrine of Justification

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 69: Barth and Eastern Orthodoxy

Interactions Between Barth and Orthodoxy

The Critique of “Religion”

Orthodox Practice and Eschatological Vision

Word or Sacrament

References

CHAPTER 70: Barth and the Religions

Introduction

Revelation

Revelation and Religion

Theological Anthropology and Election

Barth's Framework for a Christian Theology of Religions

References

CHAPTER 71: Barth and the Jews

The Scholarship so Far

Barth's Personal Connections

Barth's Theology of Israel

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 72: Barth and Islam

Introduction: Barth's View of World Religions

Islam in Barth's Early Writings and During the Nazi Era

Islam in Barth's Dogmatic Writings: Monotheism

Islam in Barth's Dogmatic Writings: A “Paganised” Form of Rabbinic Judaism

Islam in Barth's Later Writings in the Context of God's Covenant with Israel and Its Fulfillment in Jesus Christ

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 73: Barth and Sexual Difference

Introduction

Marital Prefigurations of Christ

Procreation Displaced

Celibacy Effaced

Marriage Displaced

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 74: Barth and Socialism

Theology and Socialism: The Example of Karl Barth

Historical Discussions Around Marquardt's Thesis

Barth's “Socialist Speeches”

The Tambach Lecture (1919)

The Commentaries on the

Epistle to the Romans

and Their Political Implications

Socialism in

Church Dogmatics

Conclusion

References

Further Reading

CHAPTER 75: Barth and War

Introduction

Shattered Illusions: The Crisis of World War I

War Between the Times: “So Far As It Depends on You, Live Peaceably with All”

The

Ernstfall

of Peace and the

Grenzfall

of War

Proclaiming Peace, Reconciliation, and Salvation

References

CHAPTER 76: Barth and the Weimar Republic

Introduction

The State and the Church

The Church in History

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 77: Barth and the Nazi Revolution

Barth in Germany Before 1933

Die Wende 1933

Carry on Theology as If Nothing Had Happened

The Barmen Declaration

Church Struggle and Barth's Dismissal

Opposition from Switzerland

Wartime

References

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Illustrations

Chapter 14

Figure 14.1 The Architectonic of Barth's Doctrine of Reconciliation (CD IV)....

Guide

Cover

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Volume I

Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion

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The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth (2 volumes)

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The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth

Barth and Dogmatics

Volume I

Edited by

George Hunsinger and Keith L. Johnson

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To Eberhard Busch

Preface

George Hunsinger and Keith L. Johnson

Readers of Karl Barth often find his work at once familiar and strange. The familiarity stems from the largely traditional subject matter of his theology. The questions, debates, and doctrines that Barth considers have been the currency of Christian theologians for centuries. He talks about recognizable topics like the triune God, Jesus Christ, the church, and the Christian life. He cites the Bible regularly, nearly 15 000 times in the Church Dogmatics alone, and he interacts with the work of well‐known figures within the Christian tradition. All these things make Barth's theology appear accessible to new readers, as if they have found a theologian who speaks a language nearly everyone can understand. But one does not have to read very far in Barth's work before things become strange. Barth uses everyday language in new and surprising ways. He often places fairly simple claims in dialectical tension with one another to produce an unexpected and complex result. Major figures within the tradition might be cited approvingly on one page only to have central aspects of their work rejected and reconfigured a few pages later. Barth frequently produces innovative readings of Scripture that stretch the imagination. No one who reads Barth comes away without being challenged, provoked, and changed.

We edited this Companion with these readers of Barth in mind. Our goal was to help them better understand those parts of Barth's theology that seem strange so they can see the familiar aspects of his theology with new eyes. We sought to create a comprehensive resource that covers nearly every topic of interest related to Barth's life and work. The diverse set of scholars who participated are experts in their subject matter, and they brought great care to their work. Each chapter was composed with the aim of providing both clarity and depth to the topic. New readers of Barth should find that the chapters serve as a helpful introduction to the most important questions, themes, and ideas in Barth's work. Experienced readers should discover fresh insights and interpretations that will raise new questions and enrich their scholarship.

This Companion is divided into two volumes and four parts. Volume 1 explores “Barth and Dogmatics.” Part I introduces “The Life of Karl Barth” through two timelines of Barth's life and a chapter‐length survey of his historical and theological significance. Part II examines “Barth on Doctrinal Theology.” The 33 chapters in this section explore Barth's thought on key topics and questions in dogmatic theology as reflected both in Barth's early work and his Church Dogmatics. Volume 2 turns attention to “Barth in Dialogue.” The 22 chapters in Part III place Barth into conversation with major figures in the history of Christian thought in order to capture a true, critical dialogue between them. Part IV explores “Barth on Major Themes.” Over the course of 21 chapters, Barth's relationship to a variety of movements, traditions, religions, and events are explored with the goal of placing his thought in its theological, ecumenical, and historical context.

Projects of this size are the product of a community. We are grateful to editors and production team at Wiley‐Blackwell both for inviting us to take on this project and for supporting our work along the way. Special recognition should be given to Rebecca Harkin, Joseph Catherine, Benjamin Elijah, Jake Opie, Richard Samson, and Sandra Kerka. They were gracious and professional at every turn. We also want to express our deep appreciation to each of our authors for their contribution to this project. Several of them put other tasks on hold, or worked on short time frames, in order to meet the deadlines associated with this project.

Special recognition should be given to Ty Kieser, who worked as an editorial assistant on this project while completing his doctoral studies at Wheaton College. Ty's encyclopedic knowledge of this project proved to be invaluable time and again. His enthusiasm, work ethic, and joyful spirit kept this project from becoming overwhelming despite its size. In addition to bringing every chapter into conformity with the bibliographical requirements, he also raised good questions and contributed insights that made the work stronger. It was a privilege to work with such a fine theologian.

One of the best days we experienced over the course of this project was the day Eberhard Busch accepted our invitation to participate in it. The importance of Professor Busch's contributions to Barth studies over the past 50 years can hardly be overstated. His keen mind, gracious spirit, and willingness to share his knowledge – not to mention his close personal acquaintance with Barth – have strengthened and enriched Barth's legacy. In honor of his lifetime of work, we dedicate this Companion to him.

List of Contributors

Kimlyn J. Bender is Professor of Christian Theology at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary.

Matthew J.A. Bruce is Visiting Associate Lecturer of Theology at Wheaton College.

Andrew Burgess is Dean of Bishopdale Theological College in Nelson, New Zealand.

David C. Chao is a PhD Candidate in Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.

John L. Drury is Associate Professor of Theology and Christian Ministry at Indiana Wesleyan University.

David Gibson is a Minister of Trinity Church in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Jason Goroncy is Senior Lecturer in Systematic Theology at Whitley College, University of Divinity.

David Guretzki is Adjunct Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Briercrest Seminary.

Kevin W. Hector is Associate Professor of Theology and of the Philosophy of Religions at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Marco Hofheinz is Professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics at Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany.

Matt Jenson is an Associate Professor at Biola University’s Torrey Honors Institute.

Adam J. Johnson is an Associate Professor at Biola University’s Torrey Honors Institute.

Keith L. Johnson is Associate Professor of Theology at Wheaton College.

Cambria Janae Kaltwasser is Assistant Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Northwestern College.

JinHyok Kim received a DPhil in Systematic Theology from Oxford University.

Sung‐Sup Kim received his Ph.D. in theology from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Wolf Krötke is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at Humboldt University in Berlin.

David Lauber is Associate Professor of Theology at Wheaton College.

Jonathan Lett is Assistant Professor of Theology at Le Tourneau University.

Gerald McKenny is Endowed Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.

W. Travis McMaken is Associate Professor of Religion and Assistant Dean of Multidisciplinary Humanities at Lindenwood University.

Paul D. Molnar is Professor of Systematic Theology at St. John's University.

Martha Moore‐Keish is J.B. Green Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary.

Adam Neder is Bruner‐Welch Professor in Theology at Whitworth University.

Paul T. Nimmo is King's Chair of Systematic Theology at the University of Aberdeen.

Robert B. Price is Associate Professor and Co‐Chair, Department of Theology in the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University.

Andrew Purves is Professor of Reformed Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

Hanna Reichel is Associate Professor of Reformed Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Jeffrey Skaff received his PhD in Systematic Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Shannon Smythe is Assistant Professor of Theological Studies at Seattle Pacific University.

Katherine Sonderegger is William Meade Chair in Systematic Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary.

Christiane Tietz is Professor of Systematic Theology as the University of Zürich.

Michael Weinrich is Professor of Systematic Theology, Dogmatics and Ecumenism at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany.

William H. Willimon is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke Divinity School.

Primary Text Abbreviations

ALA

Ad Limina Apostolorum

ATS

Against the Stream

BAP

The Teaching of the Church Regarding Baptism

CD

Church Dogmatics

CL

The Christian Life

CRE

Credo

CSC

Community, State, and Church

DC

Deliverance to the Captives

DO

Dogmatics in Outline

EE

Epistle to the Ephesians

EP

Epistle to the Philippians

ESS

Eine Schweizer Stimme

ET

Evangelical Theology

ETH

Ethics

FI

“Fate and Idea in Theology”

FOC

The Faith of the Church

FT

Final Testimonies

FQI

Anselm: Fides Quaerens Intellectum

GA

Karl Barth Gesamtausgabe

GD

Göttingen Dogmatics

HCT

The Heidelberg Catechism for Today

HG

“The Humanity of God”

HIC

How I Changed My Mind

HOM

Homiletics

HSCL

The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life

KBA

Karl Barth Archiv

KD

Kirchliche Dogmatik

KGSG

The Knowledge of God and the Service of God

PRA

Prayer

PTNC

Protestant Theology in the Nineteenth Century

RI

The Epistle to the Romans

, first edition

RII

The Epistle to the Romans

, second edition

ROD

The Resurrection of the Dead

RSC

A Shorter Commentary on Romans

TC

Theology and Church

TET

Theological Existence Today!: A Plea for Theological Freedom

TJC

Theology of John Calvin

TRC

Theology of Reformed Confessions

TS

Theology of Schleiermacher

WGT

The Word of God and Theology

WTW

Witness to the Word: A Commentary on John 1

Part IThe Life of Karl Barth

Karl Barth Professional Timeline

1886 – Born 10 May in Basel, Switzerland.

1904–1908 – Studies at the Universities of Bern, Berlin, Tübingen, and Marburg.

1908–1909 – Editorial Assistant for Christliche Welt.

1909 – Ordained 4 November by his father in the cathedral in Bern.

1909 – Assistant pastor in Geneva.

1911–1921 – Reformed pastor in Safenwil, a small industrial city in Switzerland.

1914 – In August Barth is shocked to read a manifesto supporting the Kaiser's war efforts signed by almost all of his theology professors.

1918–1919 –‐ First edition of Barth's The Epistle to the Romans. Barth likens himself to a man climbing a dark bell tower who, reaching out to steady himself with the rail, grabs a bell rope by mistake, thus sounding an alarm that rings through the whole town.

He writes: “The Gospel proclaims a God wholly other from humankind,” a God who dwells in “another plane that is unknown.”

1919 – Tambach Lecture delivered at a conference of religious socialists. Barth's break with religious socialism. He protests against “secularizing Christ for the umpteenth time, e.g. today for the sake of democracy, or pacifism, or the youth movement, or something of the sort – as yesterday it would have been for the sake of liberal culture or our countries, Switzerland or Germany.”

1921–1922 – Second edition of Barth's The Epistle to the Romans. He writes: “If Christianity is not altogether and unreservedly eschatology, there remains in it no relationship whatsoever to Christ.” It becomes a best seller through the present day.

1921–1930 – Professor of Theology in Göttingen and Münster.

1921 – Barth is appointed professor of Reformed theology at the University of Göttingen, and later to chairs at Münster (1925) and Bonn (1930).

1923 – Barth debates his distinguished teacher, Adolf von Harnack.

1924–1925 – Göttingen Dogmatics (published posthumously).

1924 – Zwischen den Zeiten. Beginning of the “dialectical theology” movement. Barth, Bultmann, Gogarten, Thurneysen, Merz. Dissolved in 1933.

1925 – October. Barth assumes a theology position in Münster.

1926 – First seminar on Anselm.

1927 – Christliche Dogmatik.

1928 – Collaboration with Heinrich Scholz. Beginnings of Barth's Anselm book.

1929 – Meetings with Eric Przywara.

1930–1935 – The years at Bonn.

1931 – Fides Quaerens Intellectum.

1931 – Church Dogmatics. Barth begins the first book of his magnum opus. It grows year by year out of his class lectures; though incomplete, it eventually fills four volumes in 12 parts, nearly 10,000 pages in all.

1933 – January. Theologische Existenz heute [Theological Existence Today]. From broadside to journal. “As though nothing had happened.”

1934 – 31 May. The Barmen Declaration. Barth mails this declaration to Hitler personally.

1935 – June. Barth is forced to resign from his professorship at the University of Bonn for protesting against the treatment of the Jews and for refusing to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler. Arrested and deported.

1935–1968 – Professor in Basel.

1935 – Increasing sense of isolation.

1936 – Attends lecture by Pierre Maury on “Election and Faith.”

1937– Gifford Lectures. The Knowledge of God and the Service of God.

1941 – Conversations with Bonhoeffer in Basel.

1942–1945 – Works against a Swiss law that prevented Jewish refugees from entering the country. His telephone is wiretapped by the police.

1944 – Committee for a Free Germany. Communist‐led organization organized to support refugees from Germany.

1945 – Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt (19 October). Written under Barth's influence but he considers it to be too vague.

1946–1955 – The postwar era: Between East and West.

1941–onward – Friendship with Hans Urs von Balthasar.

1945–1955 – Opposes German rearmament and nuclear weapons, both in general and in Europe.

1945–1950 – Works for reconciliation with Germany and stands against retribution.

1948 – World Council of Churches. First Assembly in Amsterdam. Barth delivers plenary address.

1949 – “The Church Between East and West.”

1955–1962 – Final years of teaching and activism for peace.

1956 – Bicentenary of Mozart's death.

1958 – Petition against nuclear weapons. In company with many famous nuclear physicists, Barth calls for unilateral nuclear disarmament. Declares preparation for atomic warfare a sin and a denial of all three articles of the Christian faith.

1962–1968 – The years of retirement.

1962 – Trip to the United States. Visits Chicago, Pittsburgh, Richmond, and Princeton.

1963 – Sonning Prize. Copenhagen.

1963 – Honorary doctorate in Paris. Laudatio given by Paul Ricouer.

1968 – Sigmund Freud Prize. Awarded by the Academy for Poetry and Speech in 1968 for the quality of his academic prose.

1968 – On 10 December Barth dies in his sleep.

Karl Barth Personal Timeline

1886 – Barth is born in Basel on 10 May.

1907 – Barth, age 21, falls in love with Rösy Munger. They plan to marry but are prevented by Barth's parents. At their last meeting they burn their letters to one another.

1909 – Barth serves as assistant pastor in Geneva. Preaches from Calvin's pulpit in the Auditoire.

1911 – Barth's parents (mainly his mother) arrange his marriage to Nelly Hoffman (b. 1893), an accomplished violinist and a former pupil in one of Barth's confirmation classes.

1911 – Barth leaves Geneva for a pastorate in Safenwil.

1913 – Barth and Nelly's wedding day (27 March). He is 27, she is 19.

1921–1925 – Professor in Göttingen.

1925 – Charlotte von Kirschbaum meets Barth. She is 24 years old, financially almost destitute, and in poor health. Barth is 37.

1925–1930 – Professor in Münster.

1925 – Rösy Munger dies of leukemia. Barth spends a day in his study grieving for her. He carries a photo of her in his suit pocket for the rest of his life. He sometimes takes it out and weeps, even into his old age.

1926 – Charlotte visits Münster and begins secretarial work for Barth. They soon realize, in joy and anguish, that they have fallen in love.

1929 – Charlotte moves in with Nelly and Karl Barth and their five children in Münster. She lives in the household with them for 35 years.

1930–1935 – Professor in Bonn.

1931 – Barth begins the Church Dogmatics.

1933 – Theologische Existenz heute!

1934 – Barth writes the Barmen Declaration.

1935 – Barth returns to Basel in July, after the Confessing Church fails to support him with a teaching post. He is officially expelled from Germany by the police in October. Charlotte follows the family into Switzerland. From there they support the German Resistance and the Confessing Church.

1935–1962 – Professor in Basel.

Early 1960s – Charlotte becomes ill, possibly with Alzheimer's disease. In 1965 she moves to a nursing home in Riehen, where she dies 10 years later. Barth visits her every Sunday, often accompanied by Nelly. Nelly continues to visit Charlotte after Karl is gone.

1968 – Barth dies in his sleep on 10 December at the age of 82.

1975 – Charlotte dies at the age of 76. Nelly honors Karl's request that Charlotte be buried in the family plot.

1976 – Nelly dies at the age of 83. All three names appear on one gravestone.

Barth is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 10 December.

CHAPTER 1Karl Barth's Historical and Theological Significance

Christiane Tietz

Karl Barth allowed himself to be moved by the realities that surrounded him. It was the harsh and perplexing reality of the world that led him to ask about God in a new way. It was the poverty he confronted as a young curate in Geneva, not to mention the class divisions he encountered as pastor in Safenwil, that made him search for a hope against hope on the basis of faith (cf. Barth 1971, p. 306; GA 22, p. 730). It was the reality of World War I and the capitulation of many of his theological teachers to German zeal for the war that made him doubt their theological presuppositions and develop his disruptively “dialectical” counterproposals. It was the reality of his teaching post as a professor that made him move away from a merely dialectical critique to developing a full‐scale dogmatics. And it was the reality of the Third Reich that made him lift up the relevance not only of the First Commandment as a theological criterion but also of Jesus Christ as the self‐revelation of God. Although Barth argued that God and the Christian faith were not merely cultural or historical phenomena, his thinking arose in response to immediate historical circumstances that betrayed, he felt, a certain crisis of modernity (cf. Gestrich 1977, p. 6f).

Barth and the other dialectical theologians were not the only ones who discerned a crisis in modernity. Many intellectuals at that time like Ernst Bloch or Paul Tillich felt similarly. But the distinctive feature of Barth and the other dialectical theologians was their return to the theology of the Reformation (cf. Ebeling 1962, p. 1). For them that meant returning to faith in a God “whose existence radically questioned the world and oneself. Only God himself and his existence were no longer uncertain” (Gogarten 1937, p. 13 rev.).

Some of their contemporaries regarded their approach as a departure from “modernity.” They suspected that here “‘modern man’ after the First World War had become weary of Enlightenment ideals and was now clinging to an idea of God that erupted from dark, medieval depths” (Gestrich 1977, p. 1).1 Yet Barth and his friends did not understand their approach as a withdrawal from modernity and its rationality. They claimed that their concept of God as the Wholly Other was “the theme of the Bible and the sum of philosophy in one” (Barth 2010, p. 17; cf. Gestrich 1977, p. 2f.).

Return to the Bible, Focus on “die Sache”

At the center of Barth's new views lay his return to the biblical text. Of course, the biblical text was always – and also in Barth's time – a subject of theological study. Yet because Barth regarded the historic‐critical approach to the Bible as insufficient, he tried something different in his two commentaries on Paul's Letter to the Romans. The philosopher Hans‐Georg Gadamer considered Barth's first commentary to be a milestone in modern hermeneutics, because it made clear that understanding a text means understanding “die Sache” or “subject matter” of the text. Here Barth undertook “a ‘critique’ of liberal theology which not so much meant critical history as such but the theological modesty which acknowledged that its results were already an understanding of Holy Scripture. Therefore, despite its refusal of methodological reflection, Barth's Letter to the Romans was some kind of hermeneutical manifesto” (Gadamer 1972, 481 rev.)

In his preface to the second edition of The Letter to the Romans, it not only became clearer what Barth meant by “die Sache” of a text but also what he regarded as the shortcomings of the historical‐critical method. Barth replied to the reproach that he was an “enemy of historical criticism” and little more than a biblicist (Barth 2010, p. 11). First he acknowledged the full “right and necessity” of historical criticism. Then he went on to register his dissatisfaction that historical criticism ended with an “interpretation of the text which I cannot call an interpretation, but only the first primitive attempt at an interpretation” (Barth 2010, p. 11). His own aim was first to bring out “what stands in the text,” yet then to think about it until “the barrier” between Paul's time and ours becomes “transparent” so that “Paul talks there and we … listen here, until the conversation between document and reader is focused totally on ‘die Sache’ (which cannot be different here and there)” (Barth 2010, p. 13 rev.). In focusing on one and the same “Sache,” text and reader become present to each other. This is the critique that was finally necessary when reading a biblical text: relating and comparing all its statements with “die Sache” of which it is talking. In this regard Barth penned his famous line: “In my view, the historical critics need to be more critical!” (Barth 2010, p. 14)

Barth's perspective on the historical‐critical method was a response to the dominance of historism in Protestant theology at that time (cf. Gestrich 1977, p. 2). In standing against it, Barth, Brunner, Bultmann, Gogarten, and Thurneysen were on the same page as Paul Tillich and Emanuel Hirsch (cf. Gestrich 1977, p. 16). All of them judged that historism had made the revelation of God into an inner‐worldly phenomenon. The extra nos of the divine Word had been abolished and preaching had thereby become impossible (cf. Gestrich 1977, p. 16f.). Ernst Troeltsch's historical method and its norms of critique, analogy, and correlation (cf. Troeltsch 1913) had dwindled God's reality into a part of history. God’s absolute otherness could no longer be encountered (cf. Gestrich 1977, p. 21f.).

With his critique of historicism and his concept of the transhistorical simultaneity of Sache and reader (through the text), Barth had rejected a simple linear conception of time. He was convinced that the whole existence of the church depended on its simultaneity with the living Christ. In his mature view, this simultaneity was the essence of Christian celebrations like Christmas and Easter. When celebrating these holidays, Christians presupposed “that prior to our remembrance, the One whom we remember is himself in action to‐day, here and now.” They presupposed that as such events once took place definitively there and then, they also in some form (secondary and dependent) “take place to‐day, and will take place again tomorrow” (CD IV/2, p. 112 rev.). This “realism” was grounded in Jesus Christ, the living Savior present then and present now. “He overcomes the barrier of his own time and therefore of historical distance …. He is present and future in his once‐for‐all act there and then …. He is among us to‐day, and will be among us to‐morrow, in his once‐for‐all act as it took place there and then” (CD IV/2, p. 112 rev.). Through his focus on “die Sache” – on the incarnate and present Christ who lived, died, and rose again – Barth was able to develop an understanding of the biblical text which expected that God would speak through it – not in the naïve sense of a fundamentalist biblicism but in reckoning with God's active, in‐breaking presence when reading and studying the Bible.

Barth's methodological approach to the biblical text was rejected by distinguished theologians of his time. For example, in 1923 his former teacher Adolf von Harnack accused him of destroying the academic character of theology through his somehow naïve and devotional return to the meaning of the biblical text. In his eyes, Barth had turned the professor's lectern into a pastor's pulpit (cf. GA 35, pp. 55–88).

Barth's rediscovery of the Bible in fact led to a revival of biblical theology and of biblical preaching among his contemporaries. And it led to a new interest in the church, as the Bible has its decisive meaning only in and for the church. The church was the community that lived from reading the Bible and from preaching its texts. Whereas cultural Protestantism emphasized the individual and his or her subjectivity, Barth's theology brought the church back into the picture.

God as the Wholly Other

In contrast to the liberal theological approach of his time that started with the human being, and in particular with religious self‐consciousness, Barth emphasized that theology had to begin with God. This emphasis was prompted by the shock of World War I, which showed Barth that all human ethical concepts such as socialism or pacifism or even “Christianity” were part of the world and were not able to overcome the world as it is. In World War I, in Barth's view, all ethics had “gone into the trenches” (GA 48, p. 186). No ethical concept was able to overcome this human catastrophe, be it the concept of the state or of patriotism, not to mention socialism or even pacifism. Not unlike the sixteenth‐century Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli, for Barth everything human was “flesh” in its nullity and transitory nature (cf. Gestrich 1977