Theodicy and Theology: A Philosophical Analysis of Karl Barth's Dialectical Theology

Abstract

INCE the emancipation of philosophy from the tutelage of ecclesiastical theology, no theological work has commanded so much attention outside the walls of the church as has the of our century. It seems that the general bias against theology that runs through the modern period breaks down before Karl Barth's theology. His work has added a new chapter the history of the dialectical method. Since the method and program of Barth's dialectics constitutes perhaps the most significant contribution to the general consciousness of our age, it will be necessary to consider his work from the side of philosophy. Philosophy is an inquiry of human reason unassisted by divine revelation. Theology presents itself as an exegesis of the word of divine revelation. Philosophy can never accept the self-interpretation of theology, but it can try to understand the meaning of the theological exegesis. For even the alienated form of divine revelation, by looking at man's nature as it is in heaven and judging man's life as it is earth, theology can serve as a concrete negation of a status quo that the dictatorship of common sense accepts as man's permanent situation. Could not the theological negation of the mundane realm be catalytic for philosophy developing categories of dialectics by which it can unmask the conventional element what poses as man's perennial nature and point beyond the status quo to the ideal standard by which man may be judged? Theological language is born out of the dualism between the ideal standard and the status quo of man's situation. As long as this cleavage is not healed, there remains a legitimate task for theology. But the language of theology itself reflects the cleavage between the ideal and the ruling norms of man and society. In the moment that the ideal standards which theology has put as a judgment upon man and society are realized the course of human history, the task of theology has been fulfilled. It is theology and not the segmented natural and moral sciences, like physics, biology, * Jacob Taubes contributed an article on the theology of Paul Tillich, On the Nature of Theological Method, the first issue of the Journal for 1954. He continued his discussion of theological method the next issue by presentation of the article, Dialectic and Analogy. The present article forms a unity with these and completes a trilogy. Dr. Taubes, who is well known for his A bendldndische Eschatologie, is a Fellow Philosophy the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is this country on a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to work on the problem of political theology.