The Oxford Handbook of Karl Barth (Oxford Handbooks)

Karl Barth (1886-1968) is generally acknowledged to be the most important European Protestant theologian of the twentieth century, a figure whose importance for Christian thought compares with that of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Martin Luther, and Friedrich Schleiermacher. Author of the Epistle to the Romans, the multi-volume Church Dogmatics, and a wide range of other works - theological, exegetical, historical, political, pastoral, and homiletic - Barth has had significant and perduring influence on the contemporary study of theology and on the life of contemporary churches. In the last few decades, his work has been at the centre of some of the most important interpretative, critical, and constructive developments in in the fields of Christian theology, philosophy of religion, and religious studies. The Oxford Handbook of Karl Barth is the most expansive guide to Barth's work published to date. Comprising over forty original chapters, each of which is written by an expert in the field, the Handbook provides rich analysis of Barth's life and context, advances penetrating interpretations of the key elements of his thought, and opens and charts new paths for critical and constructive reflection. In the process, it seeks to illuminate the complex and challenging world of Barth's theology, to engage with it from multiple perspectives, and to communicate something of the joyful nature of theology as Barth conceived it. It will serve as an indispensable resource for undergraduates, postgraduates, academics, and general readers for years to come. Cover The Oxford hanbook of KARL BARTH Copyright Dedication Acknowledgements Contents List of Abbreviations List of Contributors Introduction Bibliography Part I: CONTEXTUALIZING BARTH Biographical Chapter 1: Intellectual and personal biography I: The Young Barth (1886–1921) Barth's family background Barth's formative years as a student First experiences as a pastor Engagement and marriage Pastor in safenwil The first world war Breakthrough to a new theology Barth's first commentary on romans Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 2: Intellectual and personal biography II: Barth in Germany (1921–1935) The years in gottingen: 1921-1925 The years in munster: 1925-1930 The years in bonn: 1930-1935 Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 3: Intellectual and personal III: Barth the Elder (1935–1968) Principal duty: the continuation of church dogmatics Professor at the university of basel Participation in the problems of the 'confessing church' Companionship W. A. Visser ’t Hooft and the Formation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Hans Urs von Balthasar W. A. Mozart Further political engagement The doctrine of reconciliation (church dogmatics IV) Latter Days Suggested Reading Bibliography Intellectual Chapter 4: Barth and patristic theology A protestant reading of the Fathers Barth's approach to councils and creeds The Divinity of the Son: The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 C.E.) The Hypostatic Union and the Chalcedonian Definition (451 C.E.) Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 5: Barth and mediaeval theology The theology of John Calvin: mediaeval theology and the theology of glory Mediaeval works in church dogmatics Anselm amongst the authorities Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 6: Barth and reformation theology Martin luther: the subject matter of theology is proclamation Martin Luther: the veiling and unveiling of the world of god Departing from the reformers: grounding the world in the being of god John Calvin: jesus christ and the eternal election of god John calvin: knowledge of god the creator and jesus christ Reconsidering luther and calvin: the knowledge of ourselves in jesus christ Reconsidering luther and calvin: ulruich zwingli and baptism Conclusion: Jesus christ as the one word and work of god Suggested Reading Bibliography Chapter 7: Barth and protestant orthodoxy The development of karl barth's interaction with protestant orthodoxy The importance of post-reformation orthodoxy for karl barth's theology Doctrinal topics Revelation and Scripture Doctrine of God Doctrine of Election Covenant Conclusion Suggested Reading Bibliography Chapter 8: Barth and liberal protestantism Defining liberal theology—barth's eARLY YEARS AND THE 1914 'break' Pro et (mostly) contra The case of albrecht ritschl Continuities and discontinuities Conclusion Suggested Reading Bibliography Chapter 9: Barth and roman catholicism Barth's theological development Dialogue between contemporaries The renewal of roman catholicism One church of the living christ Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 10: Barth and modernity Karl barth and 'reflexive modernization' Struggling with Modernity (I) The ‘Reflexive Modernization’ of Theology through Epistemological Principles Continuity in discontinuity: stages of development of barth's anti-modern modern theology Towards Theological Avant-gardism Avant-Gardism of Crisis Academic Theology Autonomy and otherness Struggling with Modernity (II) Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 11: Barth and politics Theology as ideology critique The god of life and the lordless powers Creation as grace Reconciliation and liberation The christian community and the civil community Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Part II: DOGMATIC LOCI Chapter 12: The tasks of theology The beginnings and the disruption In search of foundations Ressourcement for the task of theology and jumping the gun Fides quaerens intellectum and moby dick What are we to do in doing theology? The practice of theology Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 13: God Revelation as divine self-demonstration Recasting the doctrine of god The divine identity: Action, love, freedom Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 14: Trinity Barth's treatment of the trinity in gottingen (and munster) Initial Problems to be Treated The Immanent or ‘Essential’ Trinity The Father–Son Relation Pneumatology The Münster Dogmatics Barth's treatment of the trinity in church dogmantics I/1 Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 15: Revelation and scripture The three forms of the one word of god Revelation Holy scripture Doctrine Criticisms Conclusion Suggested Reading Bibliography Chapter 16: Exegesis Scriptural reading in barth's earlier theology A Theology of scriptural reading: church dogmatics I Conclusion: on reading barth as an exegetical theology Suggested Reading Bibliography Chapter 17: Jesus christ The theologian inspired by bad boll 'God sent his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh': the second edition of the commentary on romans Becoming acquainted with the doctrine of the early church: the gottingen dogmatics Prolegomena: The Mysteries of the Deity of Christ and of his Primal History The Redeemer, his Person and his Work The third draft of the prolegomena: a 'twofold course of christological confession' The christological renewal in the doctrine of election Jesus christ in the doctrine of reconciliation Some General Remarks: Church Dogmatics IV/1, §§57–8 Church Dogmatics IV/1, §59: The Obedience of the Son of God Church Dogmatics IV/2, §64: The Exaltationof the Son of Man Church Dogmatics IV/3, §69: The Glory of the Mediator Conclusion Suggested Reading Bibliography Chapter 18: The Spirit The Holy spirit as the spirit of jesus christ The Spirit of the distinction between god and human being The spirit of love The spirit of freedom Conclusion Suggested Reading Bibliography Chapter 19: Election Bhart's critique of the traditional doctrine of predestination Barth's christological revision: jesus christ is the subject and object of election The election of the one who loves in freedom Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 20: Israel Recent perspectives on barth and israel Israel in Romans Israel in the Göttingen Dogmatics Israel in the Church Dogmatics Israel, Revelation, and Testamental Unity Israel as the Community of Divine Election Israel and the Eternal Covenant The Condescension of ‘Jewish’ Flesh Israel’s Vox Populi The Repudiation of Mission Conclusion Suggested Reading Bibliography Chapter 21: Creation Method in the doctrine of creation Genesis, creation, and science Theological anthropology Humanity as male and female Anthropocentrism Nothingness Angels and the kingdom of heaven Creation ethics Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 22: Sin and evil Sin The ‘Classical Model’ from which Barth is Departing Developments in Barth’s Treatment of Human Sin The Doctrine of Sin as Part of Christology—Christ as Key and Mirror The Relation between Sin and Evil/Nothingness Evil as das nichtige Historical Contexts and Theological Intentions Evil in the Context of Creation and Providence Das Nichtige in the Fall and in the Event of Jesus Christ Nothingness and the Shadow Sides of the Good Creation Looking back and ahead Open Questions and Critical Remarks Final Remarks: On Theology and Mozart Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 23: Providence The location of providence Faith in providence Divine preservation Divine accompanying The Divine Praecursus The Divine Concursus The Divine Succursus Divine ruling Living under god's providence Reception Suggested Reading Bibliography Chapter 24: Human being Encounter: Roman and church dogmatics I/2 Election: Church Dogmatics II/2 Freedom: Church dogmatics III/2 Community: Church Dogmatics IV Suggested Reading Bibliography Chapter 25: Christian life Eschatological existence: on the way to the epistle to the romans Dogmatics as prayer: the what and the how of christian Faith Love and witness: christian life as love of god and neighbour Being 'in christ': christian life in the doctrine of reconciliation The christian life: barath's ethics of reconciliation Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 26: Justification, sanctification, vocation Backdrop: 'the criminals with him' Reconciliation as justification, sanctification, and vocation Above to Below: Justification before Jesus Christ Below to Above: Sanctification for Jesus Christ Vocation as Participation in the Work of Christ Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 27: Church Existence 'from above': the church in relation to jesus christ and the spirit The church as divine event Existence 'for the world': the church as human act Critical responses Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 28: Sacraments Interpretative coordinates Witness and Mediation Instrumentalism and Parallelism Divine and Human Action The Threefold Office of Christ (the Munus Triplex) Barath's view of sacrament and sacraments in church dogmatics Church Dogmatics Part-volumes I/1, I/2, and II/1 Church Dogmatics Part-volumes II/2 to III/4 Church Dogmatics Part-volumes IV/1, IV/2, and IV/3 Church Dogmatics Part-volume IV/4 (fragment) Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 29: Eschatology Jesus christ alone is our hope: the eschatological coming of god and redeemed humanity Jesus christ as the gift of redeemed humanity: elected and reprobate creature Time in the provisionality of the interim A definite passion—or, hple's strange kind of zealous waiting: the eschatological ethics of reconciliation Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 30: Ethics Theological ethics and other kinds of ethics The subject matter of theological ethics General and special ethics General Ethics Special Ethics The constancy of god's command Formal Constancy Material Constancy Conclusion Suggested Reading Bibliography Part III: THINKING AFTER BARTH Chapter: 31: Barth and the racial imaginary Barth and the german colonial moment An alternative subjectivity Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 32: Barth and modern moral philosophy 'The fall of ethics' and 'the fall of idealism' Autonomia reformata Divine command after kant, hegel, and barth Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 33: Barth and gender The relational human agent The relationship and distinction between the sexes A Critical relationship to gender norms Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 34: Barth and public life The meaning of public life The spirit of public life Normative directions A Concluding comparison Suggestred reading Biliography Chapter 35: Barth and hermeneutics Changing the subject: from history to eschatology Participating in the subject matter: a hermeneutic of simultaneity Changing the subject again: from eschatology back to history Paerticipating in the subject matter: a hermeneutic of description Towards a new subject: from history to apocalyptic Participating in the subject matter: a bifocal hermeneutic Conalusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 36: Barth and preaching Barth's theology of proclamation An Eloquent God The Word of God Reconciliation Echoing the Divine ‘Yes’ Freedom for speech Word Problems and Language Games The End of Rhetoric? Grace in the World Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 37: Barth and environmental theology The reception of barth in ecotheology The status of nature in ecotheology Stewardship after the end of nature Creation as the external basis of the covenant Covenant as the Internal Basis of Creation Ethics, Animals, and Reconciliation Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 38: Barth and culture Barth as antagonist of culture Barth as defender of culture Culture as parable The curious case of mozart Conclusion Suggested Reading Bibliography Chapter 39: Barth and judaism From the old to the new Religious experience Tthe transcendental turns Cohen Barth Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 40: Barth, religion, and the religions Barth on religion as a theological category Religion, Law, and the Commentary on Romans Subsuming the Particular: The Problem of Religion in Church Dogmatics I/2 Approaches to Barth and Religions beyond §17 of Church Dogmatics Barth on other religions Thinking after and beyond barth on religious diversity Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 41: Barth and contemporary protestant theology Continuing influence New conditions of reception The cultural-philosophical interpretation of the munich school Other german voices: barth's theology as theology for our time Barth reception in the netherlands Barth's reception in the british isles Barth as antidote: the united states Non-western contexts: africa and asia Conclusion Suggested reading Bibliography Chapter 42: Barth and roman catholic theology Karl barth on the trinity in church dogmatics Karl barth in dialogues with wlater kasper Karl Rahner on the Trinity Walter Kasper on Karl Rahner Karl Barth and Walter Kasper Conalusion Suggested reading Bibliography Afterword Bibliography Index "The study of Karl Barth in the English-speaking world has changed dramatically over the decades since his death in 1968. On one level, the stolid and distortive paradigm of neo-orthodoxy, which so often shaped the reception of Barth's work in Anglophone circles after the Second World War, is now a thing of the past. Barth is no longer credibly viewed as a ready advocate for old-school Protestant orthodoxy, much less as a redoubt for 'traditionalists' battling valiantly against the (supposed) liberalism, ethical anomie, corruption, and unbelief of a 'secular age' (Taylor 2007). Instead, Barth has come to be generally recognized as an admirably uncategorizable thinker, one whose work resists partisan co-option and serves as a vital resource for contemporary theological reflection. On another level, Barth's work has increasingly become an occasion for debate, and to such a degree that those who would classify certain theologies or instincts as 'Barthian' in orientation face a daunting challenge when it comes to explaining what this watchword means. To be sure, the distinctive features of Barth's theology stand in plain sight. Many inside and beyond the academy and churches are aware of his famed 'Christological concentration', his description of God as 'the One who loves in freedom', his reworking of traditional Reformed accounts of divine election, his stinging critique of 'religion', and his breathtakingly ambitious account of reconciliation-an account that remained tantalizingly incomplete and lacked the planned complementary account of redemption. Yet familiarity with Barth's work has been complicated, in a positive way, by the fact that scholars are now arguing about it with unprecedented vigour. The field of Barth studies has therefore become a wonderfully pluralistic and contested domain. It is home to heated debates over dogmatic issues, complex discussions regarding Barth's relationship to Christian and Jewish traditions and to modern and postmodern trajectories of thought, and a wide array of comparative, critical, and constructive ventures"-- Provided by publisher "Karl Barth (1886-1968) is generally acknowledged to be the most important European Protestant theologian of the twentieth century, a figure whose importance for Christian thought compares with that of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Martin Luther, and Friedrich Schleiermacher. Author of the Epistle to the Romans, the multi-volume Church Dogmatics, and a wide range of other works - theological, exegetical, historical, political, pastoral, and homiletic - Barth has had significant and perduring influence on the contemporary study of theology and on the life of contemporary churches. In the last few decades, his work has been at the centre of some of the most important interpretative, critical, and constructive developments in in the fields of Christian theology, philosophy of religion, and religious studies. The Oxford Handbook of Karl Barth is the most expansive guide to Barth's work published to date. Comprising over forty original chapters, each of which is written by an expert in the field, the Handbook provides rich analysis of Barth's life and context, advances penetrating interpretations of the key elements of his thought, and opens and charts new paths for critical and constructive reflection."-- Publisher, inside front flap of dust jacket