New directions in Barthian ethics

Abstract

This article highlights the located and embodied nature of Karl Barth’s theological ethics by situating Barth within his socio-political context. While the vast majority of scholars who engage with Barth’s ethics focus their attention predominantly on his mature work in Church Dogmatics, I claim that his occasional writings and speaking engagements in the years leading up to the Second World War shed important light on his later reflections. While it is often claimed that Barth one-sidedly focuses on divine action and grace to the detriment of authentic human action, I claim that when Barth’s one-sidedness is situated in his context and when we grasp the precise nature of his animating concerns, the performative goals he seeks to effect with his theology become clear. We are thus able to see that Barth does not abandon the theme of formation (as many critics claim). In fact, his theology leading up to the Second World War is one-sided precisely as a means of forming and equipping Christians in Germany to withstand the looming threat of the National-Socialist Church. This thesis opens the door to constructive conversations between theories of Christian formation (commonly found in theologies that prioritize narrative and ecclesiology) and Barth’s Christocentric theology (which prioritizes divine action and freedom). For the mature Barth, these conversations will centre on the theme of missionary participation in the ongoing work of Christ.