scholarly journals Reading Karl Barth on Truth and Falsehood in the Post-Truth Age

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 593
Author(s):  
Geoff Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Form ◽  
Karl Barth ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Church Dogmatics ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

This article offers a close reading of two sections of Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics, i.e., §70.1 “The True Witness” and §70.2 “The Falsehood of Man” against the background of the post-truth environment. A brief discussion of the post-truth phenomenon highlights how some strands of the resistance to it trade on a binary of objective and subjective approaches to truth and epistemology, insisting on the triumph of the former over the latter as the way of overcoming the problems of knowledge and truth in a post-truth culture. The reading of the two selected texts from the Dogmatics indicate that Barth’s discussion of truth and falsehood cuts across that binary. Whilst much of what Barth says in these texts is said in earlier parts of the Dogmatics, it is sharpened in this context by Barth’s discussion of the “pious lie,” the distortion of the truth within the Christian community, as the fundamental form of falsehood. Alertness to this sin challenges the church to adopt a posture of self-criticism to its own knowledge of the truth. This can be its own form of witness in the post-truth age.

Karl Barth

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul T. Nimmo
Keyword(s):  
Karl Barth ◽  
Church Dogmatics ◽  
Contemporary Work ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

This chapter explores the epistemology of theology that is described and deployed in the theology of Karl Barth. Drawing primarily on the second volume of the Church Dogmatics, the chapter first considers Barth’s understanding of the epistemology of theology with reference to the roles of Word and Spirit, the primary and secondary objectivity of God, and the place of analogy. It then turns to examine the impact of Barth’s position upon the way in which the discipline of theology engages in dialogue with other disciplines, observing Barth’s practice in respect of the conversations he conducts with general ethics and general anthropology. The chapter concludes by suggesting ways in which the work of Barth may have ongoing importance in respect of contemporary work in the epistemology of theology.

The Doctrine of Appropriation as an Interpretative Framework for Karl Barth's Pneumatology of the Church Dogmatics

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-290
Author(s):  
Adam McIntosh
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Karl Barth ◽  
Trinitarian Theology ◽  
Church Dogmatics ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Interpretative Framework

Although Karl Barth is widely recognised as the initiator of the renewal of trinitarian theology in the twentieth century, his theology of the Church Dogmatics has been strongly criticised for its inadequate account of the work of the Holy Spirit. This author argues that the putative weakness of Barth's pneumatology should be reconsidered in light of his doctrine of appropriation. Barth employs the doctrine of appropriation as a hermeneutical procedure, within his doctrine of the Trinity, for bringing to speech the persons of the Trinity in their inseparable distinctiveness. It is argued that the doctrine of appropriation provides a sound interpretative framework for his pneumatology of the Church Dogmatics.

Israel

2019 ◽  
pp. 324-340
Author(s):  
Mark Lindsay
Keyword(s):  
Jewish People ◽  
Karl Barth ◽  
Church Dogmatics ◽  
The Church

Ever since 1967, when Friedrich-Wilhelm Marquardt first proclaimed Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics to be the discovery of Judaism for Christianity, Barth’s theology of Jews, Judaism, and Israel has been a matter of increasing interest and contention. Having moved well beyond the earlier presumption of Israel’s absence from Barth’s thinking, conversations have now turned to the much more interesting questions of why and how he afforded Israel and Judaism such prominence. With due regard to his episodic ambiguity in these matters, this chapter argues that Karl Barth came gradually to the realization that he was compelled to speak of Israel and the Jewish people, not reactively or reluctantly, but because neither Christianity nor the church are possible without or apart from them.

Karl Barth, a Public Theologian? The One Word and Theological 'Bilinguality'

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Harasta
Keyword(s):  
Karl Barth ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Civil Sphere ◽  
Kingdom Of Christ ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

AbstractOn first glance, Karl Barth seems an unlikely witness for public theological 'bilinguality'. Yet he off ers substantial clarifi cation for theology's double responsibility within the context of the church and within the context of its contemporary public(s), especially in his lecture ' e Christian Community and the Civil Community'. Barth there develops a sophisticated interpretation of bilinguality avant la lettre. He proposes that the civil community and the Christian community are two diff erent analogies for the eschatological kingdom of Christ. Each of the two has its own way of testifying to Christ. The church needs to respect the autonomy of the civil sphere in its proclamation. us emerges a clear notion of the two languages intended by the concept of bilinguality. The secular and the ecclesial proclamation of Christ complement each other.

Authority, Mission, and Institution: A Systematic Consideration of Matthew 28.18-20 in Karl Barth's Doctrine of Baptism

Ecclesiology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Travis McMaken
Keyword(s):  
Church Dogmatics ◽  
Infant Baptism ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

AbstractMany of Barth's most faithful and devoted interpreters have taken issue with his unapologetically non-sacramental account of baptism in CD IV/4 and his attendant rejection of infant baptism. While many questions have been raised concerning the veracity of the exegesis that Barth produces in support of his position, little attention has been paid to the way in which Matthew 28.18-20, when systematically considered, relates to his account of baptism. Taking the themes of authority, mission and institution as analytic tools, this paper examines the role played by the Matthean passage throughout the Church Dogmatics period, and considers how these themes relate to Barth's rejection of infant baptism. It is suggested in conclusion that understanding baptism as the 'sign of the gospel' allows us to move beyond Barth's rejection of infant baptism without abrogating his concern for mission.

Intellectual Humility and the Community of the Sacraments

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant Macaskill
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Close Connection ◽  
Union With Christ ◽  
Intellectual Humility ◽  
Distinctive Character ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

This chapter considers the role that the sacraments of baptism and Eucharist play in fostering a proper attitude of intellectual humility within Christian community. The sacraments dramatically enact the union with Christ that we have argued in previous chapters to define Christian intellectual humility, embodying the truth that our intellectual identities are not autonomous, but are dependent upon the constitutive identity of Jesus Christ and are located within the community of the church. Both baptism and Eucharist are understood within the New Testament to communicate the eschatological identity of the church, and therefore the distinctive character of our relationship to the reality of evil. The chapter will pay particular attention to the way that Paul directs his readers to think differently in response to the significance of the sacraments. It will also consider the close connection of the command to ‘love one another’ to the sacraments.

The Monstrosity of God Made Flesh

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 238-256
Author(s):  
Sarah C. Jobe
Keyword(s):  
Karl Barth ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Apostle Paul ◽  
Church Dogmatics ◽  
Monster Theory ◽  
The Status

Abstract Three times over the course of thirty-eight years, Karl Barth images God as the monster Leviathan (once each in the Epistle to the Romans, Church Dogmatics II.1 and& IV.3.1). Barth’s imagination for God in monstrous form emerges from his interpretation of Romans 11:35, in which the apostle Paul quotes a line from Job 41:11, a poem about Leviathan, to describe the greatness of God. Using monster theory and a close reading of Barth, this article will discuss how God as Leviathan answers one of Barth’s primary questions—namely, how it is that Jesus saves human beings from their headlong rush into the abyss. Moving from Barth’s exegetical insights, through Barth’s soteriology, the article ends with the ethics of a God made monstrous flesh—an ethics that Barth explicitly links to the status of prisoners and all those depicted as monstrous and cast into the abyss.

Karl Barth on Baptism

1969 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Hartwell
Keyword(s):  
Essential Element ◽  
Karl Barth ◽  
Church Dogmatics ◽  
Son Of God ◽  
Doctrine Of God ◽  
Son Of Man ◽  
Remarkable Recovery ◽  
Doctrine Of Creation ◽  
The Church ◽  
Seriously Ill

Some years ago Barth fell seriously ill, and no one, least of all he himself, dared hope that he would ever again be capable of adding another volume to the twelve volumes of his opus magnum, the Church Dogmatics, which had appeared from 1932 till 1962. After his remarkable recovery in autumn 1965, however, he has paid a visit to Rome in September 1966, the fruit of which was his highly instructive report Ad Limina Apostolorum (reviewed in SJT, vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 110f), and now he has presented us with another volume of his Church Dogmatics, though, for the reasons given in the Preface to K.D. IV.4, the latter had to be confined to a fraction of what Barth had originally hoped to achieve in that volume. To understand what follows, we must call to mind that Barth, treating ethics as an integral part of dogmatics, had dealt in his doctrine of God (C.D. II.2) with the command of God as an essential element in the very Being of God (general ethics). In his doctrine of creation (C.D. III.4) he had discussed the command (special ethics) of God the Creator. In his teaching on reconciliation he had so far expounded (C.D. IV. 1–3) the three aspects of Jesus Christ's work of reconciliation, namely His priestly work as the Lord (Son of God) who became a servant to accomplish the work of reconciliation, His kingly work as the servant (Son of Man) who became Lord and by His exaltation exalted man to fellowship with God, and His prophetic work as the Godman who as the Mediator of man's reconciliation with God is the Guarantor and Witness of that reconciliation.

scholarly journals Regin Prenter in memoriam

1991 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-19
Author(s):  
Jens Holger Schjørring
Keyword(s):  
Karl Barth ◽  
In Memoriam ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
The Law ◽  
Anglican Theology ◽  
Church Service ◽  
Spiritual Freedom ◽  
Church Policy ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

Obituary of Regin PrenterRegin Prenter’s name is chiefly connected with his textbook of dogmatics, which is the most important Danish textbook in that field, and which has been translated into several languages. Beyond that, Prenter’s name is associated with his achievement as a Luther scholar.It is, however, worth maintaining that also Grundtvig’s ’View of the Church’ occupied a prominent position in Prenter’s interpretation of Christianity. Grundtvig’s importance for Prenter did not clash with the fact that in his maturing years as a scholar in the 1930s he was internationally and ecumenically oriented. On the contrary, the inspiration that Prenter received from Karl Barth in Bonn and from Anglican theology (particularly from Michael Ramsey) in Lincoln in 1935 was closely linked to his understanding of Grundtvig.Over a period of 10 years from 1935, Prenter was a clergyman until he became a professor at the newly founded Faculty of Theology of Aarhus University. He abandoned his chair in 1972 when he returned to a clerical office which he held until his retirement.Prenter became increasingly antagonistic towards the leading circles in the Danish national church. In particular, the law about ordination of women roused his indignation; on the whole, his opposition to this law and his own High-Church standpoint in ecclesiastical politics caused him to confront the way of thinking which is traditionally regarded as the church policy inspired by Grundtvig.To Prenter it was entirely unacceptable that the majority in the national church, who claimed to continue the Grundtvig heritage of latitude and spiritual freedom, neglected at the same time what was inextricably associated with Grundtvig as an .old-church. theologian.Prenter’s understanding of the theology of the church service and his understanding of the sacraments may be seen in the light of this conflict, and it should be considered on this background whether Prenter’s theology does not present significant questions for us today.Thus, Prenter’s theology does not deserve to be looked upon as marginal, but should be included in a re-consideration of Danish ecclesiastical and theological tradition as a provocative, but fruitful viewpoint.J.H. Schjørring

scholarly journals Karl Barth’s definition of church in politics and culture: Growth points for the church in South Africa

2007 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wessel Bentley
Keyword(s):  
Church And State ◽  
The State ◽  
Karl Barth ◽  
The Social ◽  
Religious Question ◽  
Relationship History ◽  
Culture Growth ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

The article describes briefly Karl Barth’s views on church, its role in politics and how it relates to culture. This is done by identifying the way in which the church participates in the social realm through its relationship with the State. The historic religious question asks whether there is a natural mutual-determining relationship between church and State. The church may ask whether faith and politics should mix, while a secular state may question the authority which the church claims to speak from. To a large extent culture determ-ines the bias in this relationship. History has shown that church-State dynamics is not an either/or relationship, whereby either the authority of the church or the authority of the State should function as the ruling norm. Karl Barth describes the dynamics of this relationship very well, within the context of culture, in the way his faith engages with the political status quo. Once the relationship is better understood, Barth’s definition of the church will prove to be more effective in its evangelical voice, speaking to those who guide its citizens through political power. “Fürchtet Gott, ehret den König!” (1 Pt 2:17)

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