Barth's Theology Research Articles

Engaging Karl Barth's Theology with Nurcholis Madjid and Ibn Taymiyya

This study presents a pioneering dialogue between Karl Barth’s Christian theology and Islamic theological perspectives in the Indonesian context, focusing specifically on the concept of universal salvation. The primary interlocutors are Nurcholish Madjid, interpreting Ibn Taymiyya, and Karl Barth’s theology. Barth’s universalism envisions an inclusive future for humanity, elaborated in Barth’s exposition of the theme “Jesus is Victor,” suggesting a universal reprieve from divine eschatological judgment. Correspondingly, Madjid’s interpretation of Islamic theology proposes a universally hopeful future, recognizing the broad spectrum of divine revelation across various religious traditions, thereby fostering a sense of shared hope among diverse religious followers. Ibn Taymiyya, often misconceived as a figurehead for radical elements, is depicted in this essay as advocating a form of universalism where divine mercy ultimately triumphs over retribution. This article contends that this mutual anticipation of universal salvation can pave the way for meaningful Christian-Islamic interactions in the Indonesian milieu, contributing significantly to interfaith dialogue and understanding.

‘The visible renewal of human life’: Barth's ethical assessment of the Reformed confessions

AbstractKarl Barth's Theology of the Reformed Confessions characterised those catechetical texts as more ethical in orientation and more horizontal in focus than the corresponding Lutheran symbols. By examining both primary and secondary sources, this paper shows that while Barth legitimately illumines a key element of the Reformed witness regarding a connection between faith and life, his polemical eye may also distort his perspective on its distinctiveness, likely owing to contextual factors related to his self-fashioning a Reformed identity in his early academic service at the predominantly Lutheran University of Göttingen and alongside his colleague, Emanuel Hirsch.

Evil Re-Examined: Barthian Insights Post-Covid Pandemic

This paper delves into Karl Barth's unique interpretation of evil within the context of the 2019-2022 global COVID-19 pandemic, guided by Kenneth Surin's concept of 'practical theodicy.' Employing a critical analysis of Barth's theological works, with a particular focus on 'das Nichtige' (nothingness), it uncovers a fresh understanding of Barth's theological intentions concerning the problem of evil. Barth's theology highlights the inherent malevolence of evil and its ultimate defeat through Christ, providing a theological framework for addressing post-pandemic suffering challenges. This reinterpretation holds specific relevance for Indonesia's and global Christian community, offering a practical theological foundation for navigating the pandemic's aftermath. The research's implications extend to theology and ethics, offering a new perspective on how Christians can comprehend and respond to suffering in a post-pandemic world. Informed by 'practical theodicy,' Barth's theological insights prompt a reconsideration of our approach to evil and its implications for human existence. This paper reevaluates Karl Barth's theology of evil through a contemporary lens, presenting a novel interpretation that is particularly valuable to scholars and theologians seeking fresh viewpoints on the enduring issue of suffering. Moreover, it offers practical guidance for Indonesia's Christian community in addressing the challenges posed by the global pandemic.

Reuniting Humanity and the Cosmos in Barth's Theology: Natural Disasters and The Fall

Using literature, this article argues that Karl Barth's (1886 –1968 CE) concept of an "assumed fall" could be helpful if applied to the cosmos and humanity. Barth's conception of the created order is that it is perfect exactly the way it is, natural disasters included. Further, the fall did not affect the creation. Barth does however argue for fallen humanity. Nevertheless, the fall is assumed in the Election of Jesus Christ. There was never a time in which humans did not need a Saviour. Barth, therefore, places a separation between humanity and the created order. A close reading of Romans 8 and a look at Christian interpretative tradition, argue for an inseparability between humankind and the cosmos. In other words, fallen humans live in a fallen cosmos, and redeemed humans will live in a redeemed universe. If Barth's concept of the assumed fall of humanity could be applied to the cosmos as well, then the concept could fit well within the traditional reading of Romans 8 and could be beneficial for scientific/theological engagement.

Karl Barth's Theology of God as the Absolute Person: Decision and the Problem of the Counterfactuals

AbstractThis article argues that the tension identified by maximalist interpreters in Barth's theology between his concrete identification of Jesus Christ with the essence of God and affirmation of counterfactual possibilities is motivated by Barth's theology that God is the absolute person. Barth's theology of divine personhood includes an element of self‐mastery over Godself. It is demonstrated that Barth uses the concept of decision and counterfactual claims to secure God's Lordship over Godself and avoid any necessity of compulsion in God's actions. God is the absolute person, a self‐determining and self‐motivated intentional agent, which Barth utilises to secure God's irreducible, full presence in God's gracious turning towards us in revelation and reconciliation.

Karl Barth on election and nationhood: Christological reflections from 1936

AbstractThis article probes into Karl Barth's theology of nationhood set forth in Gottes Gnadenwahl, a volume on the doctrine of election published in November 1936. I will attend to his use of Hegelian terms and concepts to demonstrate his refutation of secularist and immanentist reinterpretations of the Christian doctrines of election and providence under the Enlightenment principle of historical progress by modern German thinkers, most notably Hegel. As Barth sees it, Hegel was largely at fault for having provided theological and philosophical justifications for the rise of Germany's mystical nationalism in the name of German Christianity. Using Hegelian language, Barth insists against Hegel that election is God's predetermination of human existence in Christo. Rather than negating nationhood altogether, Barth's repudiation of nationalism is intended to stress that nationhood is an external basis of the communion of the elect, and that the election of the community is the internal basis of nationhood.

The Incarnation of the Eternal Son: Fitting, not Necessary

In this contribution the author responds to Bruce Marshall's Thomist critique of Barth's theology, at the cost of a certain revision of Barth's mature exploration of the “being-for-others” of the eternal Son in CD IV/1. Affirming the eternity of the Son, the Logos asarkos and thus of the immanent Trinity, socially modeled, the article argues that this revision follows the cutting-edge of Barth's thought and provides a dispositional ontology which both allows for a properly divine mutability in the incarnation and at the same time preserves the freedom of reconciling grace.

Jacques Ellul: A Companion to His Major Works

Jacques Ellul: A Companion to His Major Works

The Resurrection and God's Eschatological Justification: On a Secondary Strand of Karl Barth's Theology of the Resurrection

AbstractThis article considers the significance of the resurrection in the soteriology of Karl Barth. While Barth has rightly been associated with an understanding of the resurrection centred around the concepts of ‘declaration’ and ‘revelation’, this article explores an often overlooked secondary strand in Barth's theologia resurrectionis centred around the concepts of ‘redemption’ and ‘justice’. With a view of the ‘three‐agent’ character of the soteriology developed in §59.2–3, it will be demonstrated that this second strand of Barth's theology of the resurrection can fund an account of salvation as a reality completed not in the crucifixion of Christ but in God's new, eschatological act of raising Christ from the dead.

Negotiating Science and Religion in America: Past, Present, and Future

Negotiating Science and Religion in America: Past, Present, and Future

츠빙글리의 말씀신학과 바르트의 말씀신학에 대한 연구 및 설교학적 의의

츠빙글리의 말씀신학과 바르트의 말씀신학에 대한 연구 및 설교학적 의의

Overview of Karl Barth's Theology: Focused on the Doctrines of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit

ABSTRACT
 The purpose of this study is to have an overview of the theology of Karl Barth who is considered as one of the most influential theologians in contemporary Christian world. This study is of worthy in order to have an accurate grasp of the trend of modern Chriatian theology. After a brief survey of his life and works, this study provides an overview of Barth’s theology focusing on three major areas of his theology: the doctrines of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Barth’s emphasis upon the transcendence of God, the centrality of Jesus Christ in Christian theology, and the importance of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity should not be ignored for better understanding of the modern Christian theology. In a word, Barth’s theology has continuity of, and, at the same time, discontinuity from liberal theology.
 Keywords: Karl Barth, morder Christian theology, transcendence of God, centraliy of Jesus Christ, importance of the Holy Spirit, neo-orthodoxy, liberal theology

A.N. Prior and ‘The Nature of Logic’

Logical realism, by Arthur Norman Prior understood as the view that logic is not about language but about reality, is a consistent and strong tenet in all of Prior's philosophical work. Recent discoveries in letters from Prior to his wife, Mary Prior, and to his cousin, Hugh Teague, serve to highlight the influence of J.N. Findlay with regard to Prior's logical realism. Through the letters, we come to learn, that the title of Prior's M.A. thesis from 1937 was ‘The Nature of Logic’, that he didn't consider it good and finally, that he attributed much of the work to Findlay. It is argued here that Findlay's criticism of philosophical idealism, evident in his early writings and documented by Prior's letters, moderated Prior's views on Marxism and Karl Barth's theology, and indeed constitute the foundation of Prior's temporal realism. We are thus able to improve our knowledge on all of these aspects. Regarding Marxism, we can extend backwards the time when Prior was aware of the logical problems with Marx's dialectics from the time given by Mary in her 2003 interview with Hasle. Regarding Barth, we can see how Prior's work on ridding Barthian theology of philosophical idealism led him to investigate the importance of the ontological argument with regard to the philosophical foundation of Barthian theology. Finally, the analysis of Findlay's influence helps us better understand the nature of Prior's logical realism and appreciate (i) why Prior said that he directly and indirectly owed all he knew of logic and ethics to Findlay and (ii) why Prior called Findlay the founding father of tense-logic.

Barth backwards: reading theChurch Dogmatics‘from the end’

AbstractThis article proposes a way of reading Karl Barth'sChurch Dogmaticsbackwards or ‘from the end’. Employing this method to exploreThe Doctrine of GodandThe Doctrine of the Word of Godhighlights two aspects of Barth's theology. The first is the importance of communion to Barth's account of the immanence and economy of God, especially in his understanding of God as the ‘Lord of Glory’. The second is Barth's careful balancing of christology and pneumatology across the first two volumes of theDogmaticsthrough the use of a chiastic structure that underpins his construal of divine election and his account of divine revelation.

A Study on the Correlation between Karl Barth's Theology and Socialism: Focusing on the Period until the Second Edition of the Romans

A Study on the Correlation between Karl Barth's Theology and Socialism: Focusing on the Period until the Second Edition of the Romans

Research Group on the Reception History of Barth's Theology, <i>Karl Barth in Japan: Aspects of the Reception History until the War Defeat 1945</i>

Research Group on the Reception History of Barth's Theology, <i>Karl Barth in Japan: Aspects of the Reception History until the War Defeat 1945</i>

Book Review: Karl Barth's Theology as a Resource for a Christian Theology of Religions

Karl Barth's Theology as a Resource for a Christian Theology of Religions. By Sven Ensminger. London: Bloomsbury TT $29.95 (paper).Scholars working in the theology of religions field often pigeonhole Karl Barth as an exclusivist, because of his insistence on Jesus Christ as the norm and source of revelation and salvation. As Sven Ensminger notes, the pluralist John Hick, who conceives the various world religions as spokes pointing toward one transcendent reality, dismisses Barths corpus as a sublime bigotry inimical to interreligious dialogue and a global ethic (p. 60). Less tendentiously, perhaps, Gavin D'Costa reads Barth as inconsistently combining elements of exclusivism, pluralism, and inclusivism (the view that non-Christians might come to a saving faith in Jesus outside of an explicit faith commitment).Ensminger deconstructs such stereotypes through a careful and close reading of Barth's work. The Swiss Protestant theologian, he notes, never developed a complete theology of religions, despite a stated desire to do so one day. Consequently, interpreters have had to sift through seemingly isolated passages in Barths oeuvre to interpret his approach to non-Christian faiths. A trenchant critique of religion as a source of idolatry (in Church Dogmatics 1/2, par. 17), receives much attention-so much so, in fact, that Barth has sometimes been read as advocating a religionless Christianity similar to the proposal in Bonhoeffer s prison letters. Ensminger, however, drawing upon recent scholarship on this passage, reads it primarily as an intraecclesial critique of a Christian hubris that would cling to revelation as a birthright, rather than as a gift fostering charity toward religious outsiders. Also frequent grist for the mill is a passage from the later Barth (CD TV/3, par. 69) that discerns parables of die kingdom in secular culture-lesser lights outside the church that reflect Christ, the one true light.The key problem, as Ensminger ably demonstrates, is that interpreters have read Barth too narrowly and too selectively, focusing on diese two passages, along with Barths occasional comments on other religious traditions-for example, a fascinating excursus on the role of grace in Amida Buddhism. If one would engage Barth's interpretations of religion, one must read his work as a whole. To that end, Ensminger offers four chapters that deal, respectively, with Barth's doctrine of Christ die one revealer, the foundation for all that follows; his interpretation of the role of religion as the human face ingredient to die reception of revelation; his tiieological anthropology diat stresses the solidarity of all people in sin and grace; and his revisionist account of election as embracing all people, whether they realize it yet or not. …

An Impossible Possibility? Jewish Barthianism in Interwar Germany

In this essay I examine the Jewish reception of Karl Barth's theology in Germany of the 1930s. This I do through an analysis of a disputed exploration into the possibilities and limitations of the theological principles of dialectical theology for the formulation of a Jewish theology that took place at the time. The publication of Karl Barth's Romerbrief (1919, 1922) generated a great stir among Christian circles in Germany. Profoundly challenging the fundamental assumptions of liberal theology, Barth's ‘dialectical theology' was quickly recognized as an epoch-making work. But the impact of Barth's theology exceeded its Christian readership. As a corresponding disillusionment of liberal theology in its Jewish version took place among Jews, Barthianism presented itself as a compelling theological model offering a profound rejoinder to the spiritual needs of Jews as well. Yet alongside the recognition of the potentially constructive engagement with Barth's radical thought for a rejuvenated articulation of Jewish theology, Jewish thinkers similarly acknowledged the many challenges and difficulties such a theological encounter implied from a Jewish point of view, thereby projecting their understanding of the Jewish-Christian difference.

Karla Bartha teologia Słowa Bożego w Römerbrief oraz Kirchliche Dogmatik

The Epistle to the Romans (Germ. Römerbrief, 1919 and 1922) and Church Dogmatics (Germ. Kirchliche Dogmatik, 1932-1967) are the two most important Karl Barth’s works –milestones on the path of his theology development. And it had a great influence for whole 20th century theology – Evangelic and Catholic. Phrase used in the title – „theology of the Word of God”—is especially appropriate in a context of a whole theological thought of the citizen of Basel, including The Epistle to the Romans and Church Dogmatics. For K. Barth theology was man’s response to the Word of God. The Word requires response, as it focuses on Jesus Christ– the only revelation of wholly different and transcendent God.

Reason After Revelation: Karl Barth on Divine Word and Human Words

AbstractThough little understood, Karl Barth's moral theology is widely criticized. Indeed, it is so widely criticized because it is so little understood. Among ethicists, the principal objects of criticism are Barth's account of practical reason and the account of revelation on which it depends. This essay argues that such criticisms miss their mark, because they rest on an incomplete understanding of Barth's doctrine of the Word of God that results in an incorrect understanding of his doctrine of divine command. Because critics neglect his account of subjective reception of revelation through which divine command is heard, they ignore the account of disputation, deliberation, and decision present in his account of scriptural interpretation and ecclesial confession. By laying out the discursive practices of scriptural interpretation and ecclesial confession, and by drawing out the deliberative dimensions of Kantian self‐legislation and Hegelian mutual recognition at work in interpretation and confession alike, this essay argues that these practices provide a fuller account of what Barth calls “practical casuistry,” as well as his most fulsome and winsome account of practical reason.