Karl Barth Book Analysis.docx

Analysis of Karl Barth's Evangelical Theology Anne Ford Rector THEO 603 Modern and Contemporary Christian Thought June 10, 2023

Karl Barth was unarguably the most well-known and influential theologian of the twentieth century. Barth brought to Christian doctrine a new way of thinking, as he developed a radical theological reaction to the liberalism pervading biblical Christianity in the cusp of the late 18th to early 19th centuries. Evangelical Theology is presented as a series of written lectures, separated by subject, each a succinct summary of the author's positional theology, allowing the reader to engage in the wonder and humility that flows from the author's heart, and without the ponderous orthodox language. This last of Barth's prolific writings is an invitation to theology rather than a self-confident pronouncement of his masterful grasp of distinctive evangelical theology. In his PhD dissertation at Dallas Theological Seminary, doctoral candidate Neil Taylor outlined the precise and helpful sequences of reflection constituting the four sections of this book: The Place of Theology – Searches or undertakes to determine the special place within its own domain and from its own object. Theological Existence – Barth enters into the existentials of evangelical theology asking how theology encounters a man, confronts him and forms in him. The Threat to Theology – Barth discusses the danger to which theology and the theologian are exposed. Theological Work – Barth focuses on what must be done, performed, and accomplished in theology. 1 As he wrote, and thought, Barth nuanced his topics with repetitions where he challenged himself, and rejected, among other doctrines, the historical Adam. The reader of Evangelical Theology may be surprised at the author's retention of orthodox Christian language. In this book, 1 Neil Taylor. "Review: Karl Barth: Evangelical Theology." Ph D diss, Dallas Theological Seminary, 2011, 113-114, Quest (AAT 4305384).

as well as his others, it is common for a Barthian canon to incorporate "Word of God," "revelation," "Jesus Christ," then buttress those traditional concepts with redefinition, courtesy of the author. Bruce McCormack, Charles Hodge Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, assessed this book as an overview of the doctrine of God's Word: "Barth explains his theological method in terms of prayer, study, service, and love. He outlines many dangers to the theologian, including solitude, doubt, and temptation. He explains that theology is dependent on God because it is ultimately a fallible human work. Theology is forced before a divine judgment through hope in its object — this same Judge — and it is only ever acquitted by grace." 2 Going into this book, the reader is best served by translating "Evangelical" as "gospel" rather than as the twentieth century fundamentalism the author would never recognize. In the context of the early twentieth century, “Evangelical” meant "Reformed Protestant,” or more broadly, centered on the evangel , that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. When Barth presents evangelical theology, it is explained by the suppositions of existence, coupled with faith and reason, and supported by the revelation of God. Barth sees man as being related to God, rather than God in a relationship to man. 3 Evangelical Theology came about as a response to Barth's discontent with the liberal theology of man-centeredness, and its accompanying near-heretical notion that human experience is the essence of truth, rather than God's divine revelation. Among the thinkers who espoused such wholesale reworking of Christianity were Schleiermacher and Ritschl, both an 2 Bruce McCormack, Orthodox and Modern: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), 2. 3 Karl Barth, The Word of God and Theology (London: T&T Clark, 2011), 75.

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anathema to Barth. In countering his liberal progenitors who positioned natural science as an alternative to God's existence, Barth offered theology as a science that seeks the knowledge of God declared through God's various forms of work: learning the Holy Scripture, witnessing to Logos (Christ as the Word), and the utilization of this science in the search for truth. At the core of Barth’s theology is the idea that God freely reveals himself to man in a singular event that is both transcendent and constitutes the entirety of God’s gracious dealings with human beings. The importance of this revelatory act for Barth cannot be overestimated. He calls this action “the Christ event,” since, for Barth, it is in Jesus Christ that God freely chooses to be God for man and where God chooses to take humanity to himself as God. However, the event of Jesus Christ encompasses the revealing God, as well as the revelation itself and the man who receives the revelation. 4 A signature element in Barthian theology is his consideration of Jesus as being the Word of God. Barth holds that until the Bible is read within this thought, it cannot be accepted as divinely inspired. Jesus sent forth the apostles to testify that He was the Word of God. Hence, the witness to the Word is the Scriptures, and, in Barth's assessment, Jesus is the Word of which we are to witness. Barth succeeded in setting evangelical theology apart from any other philosophy or theology. Not only does he clearly root his theology in the Word of God, as revealed in Jesus Christ, and testified to through the Spirit, but he also expounds deeply on the existential implications of a confrontation with the object of theology, the God of the Gospel. Barth clarifies that theology is not one’s own ideas and abstractions, but 4 Justin Taylor, Evangelicals and Karl Barth (Wheaton: Crossway, 2017), 97.

the Word of God to which it responds. He affirms the reality of revelation in the history of Jesus Christ as rooted in Israel’s history and soaring high above it, clarifying that he does not dispute the Bible's authority. God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, an event on which Scripture is the only authoritative Word. Through the powerful work of the Spirit God discloses himself freely to humans. Barthian theology can only be defined as spiritual theology and it is demonstrated in the powerful work of the Spirit that proper theology can be proven. That is why Barth can make the claim that the living Word demands a personal response from the theologian. 5 What might have been initially treated as an object of philosophical study is in reality the living God demanding an answer to his revelation. Barth wants to prepare his readers for the existential implications of meeting the living God, and keep on pointing them to the necessary conditions of theological science already granted by the power of the Spirit. Barth took human existence seriously. His emphasis on the Spirit also resonates. The truth that the Holy Spirit can be trusted as a life-giving force for theology, and new every day, is a vital reminder for anyone schooled in modern academic philosophies. This book also emphasizes the fundamental act of obedience. Freedom in the Spirit is not something to use theologically at our will, but in a framework of obedience cultivated by an active spirituality in study, prayer and commandment-keeping. His creation of this "introduction" to theological science, in keeping with his own rule to begin with the beginnings, incorporates orthodoxy, philosophical critiques, source history, and his learned and innovated b iblical doctrine. Barthian thinking is rooted in a unique conception of God’s relationship with humanity ; a doctrinal summation of 5 George Hunsinger. Disruptive Grace: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), 113.

what he sees as the Christ event . Using the illumination of Scripture, Barth's theology reflects the convergence of God and man within that Christ event. Stopping just short of preaching universal salvation, Barth provides the definition of God's reconciliation to all people through the gospel of a crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ. Bibliography Barth, Karl. The Word of God and Theology . London: T&T Clark, 2011. Hunsinger, George. Disruptive Grace: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.

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McCormack, Bruce. Orthodox and Modern: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008. Taylor, Justin. Evangelicals and Karl Barth . Wheaton: Crossway, 2017. Taylor, Neil. "Review: Karl Barth: Evangelical Theology." Ph D diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 2011. Quest (AAT 4305384).