Barth's Repetition*

Abstract

AbstractIn chapter three of volume 1.2 (§19‐21) of the Church Dogmatics, Karl Barth provided one of his most thoroughgoing accounts of the concept of scripture. Throughout, he held in tension the Word of God with the frailty of the Bible's human words. As Barth explored this two‐fold aspect of the Bible, he relied upon the concept of repetition. However, what has not been fully appreciated is how repetition was at work not just in Barth's account of the Word and letter of the text, but also the Bible's book form. In response, the following essay concentrates upon these three aspects of repetition in Barth's thought. First, it evaluates trinitarian repetition and circular imagery throughout the Church Dogmatics. Second, it clarifies how repetition featured in Barth's hermeneutics of the interior letter of the text. Third, it demonstrates how despite Barth's ambiguities on these matters, repetition also included the physical book. The result reframes Barth's relevance to the material study of the Bible, which when viewed in this light can inform critical debate about the openness of technological information cultures today.