Archive for the ‘Barth’ Category

Fear this, not that

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

The Church should fear God and not fear the world.  But only if and as it fears God need it cease to fear the world.  If it does not fear God, then it is not helped at all but genuinely endangered if it fears the world, listens to its oppositions, considers its attitude, and accepts all kinds of responsibilities toward it, no matter how necessary and justified may be the criticism it receives from this quarter. CD, I/1, pp. 73-74

Fear, the most basic and pervasive of human emotions, operates in two modes.  Fear of the first order manifests itself as a strong, unpleasant emotion caused by realized or anticipated danger or dread.  Whether rational or irrational, founded or unfounded, fear in this form is a terror, horror, or panic that captures us and puts everything into question. (more…)

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Barth, Church | No Comments »

Proclamation, the essential

Saturday, January 21st, 2012

As compared with Church proclamation, then, dogmatics cannot wish to be an end in itself. The situation is not that God, revelation and faith are given to proclamation and then independently and in some way differently to dogmatics too. They are all given to the Church, and they are not given for contemplation but for proclamation, and only to this extent are they also given to dogmatics as the presupposition of its testing of the human work of proclamation. CD I,1 p. 84

The task of dogmatics serves a purpose but not one independent from the Church and its proclamation. Dogmatics does not “imply a higher possibility of Christian life,” (85) as its existence is one of service. In this way, proclamation and dogmatics are connected – one as the content and the other as the guide or corrective. “Church proclamation and not dogmatics is immediate to God in the Church. Proclamation is essential, dogmatics is needed only for the sake of it. Dogmatics lives by it to the extent that it lives only in the Church” (87).

For Barth, proclamation outranks dogmatics, and thus, preaching is primary, even essential. This does not denigrate dogmatics or theology but prescribes to it an appropriate place, a guiding role. In my memory, Dr. Peter James Flamming exemplifies a striking and authentic mixture of these two.

(more…)

Tags: , ,
Posted in Barth | No Comments »

A dead dog

Friday, January 6th, 2012

If the question what God can do forces theology to be humble, the question what is commanded of us forces it to concrete obedience. God may speak to us through Russian Communism, a flute concerto, a blossoming shrub, or a dead dog. We do well to listen to Him if He really does. CD, I,1 p. 55.

With certainty Barth believes in the primacy of the Word of God as made known to us through preaching, the sacraments, scripture, and ultimately in Jesus Christ. And yet, he steadfastly maintains that God is free to reveal Himself however He wishes – even through a dead dog. Our concern must be that no matter how He speaks, we are to humbly listen and obey.

Revelation, if and how it comes to us, is not the crucial question. Rather, the question for you and me, whether we are a theologian, nurse, farmer, welder, or teacher, is will we or will we not obey. For most of us, we have already heard too much and obeyed too little. God speaks, and we do well to listen. And above all we do well to respond with concrete obedience to what we have heard.

By the way … at this point, Barth is only opening his discussion, and thus, we can be sure he does not leave it to a dead dog to speak the Word of God.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Barth, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Christian or Church Dogmatics

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

Reading CD atop Pinnacle Mtn, Arkansas

Church Dogmatics, Volume 1, Part 1 is a revision of Barth’s first offer of dogmatics.  The Doctrine of the Word of God, published in 1927, was the first volume of what was to be Christian Dogmatics in Outline.  In the Preface of the 1932 rewrite, Barth explains why he had “to begin again at the beginning, saying the same thing, but in a very different way” (xi).  He had done something of the same with his Romerbrief (1919, revised 1921), seeking to overturn nineteenth century theological liberalism.  In his own estimation, the first go at dogmatics had not gone far enough and was in need of a revision based upon what he had learned “both historically and materially” (xi) in the intervening years.

Among the changes, Barth mentions … (more…)

Tags: , ,
Posted in Barth, Church | No Comments »

Reading Barth

Monday, December 26th, 2011

Dec. 1955, Source: Karl Barth Archive, Basel, photo by Maria Netter

As you and I anticipate a reading journey through Church Dogmatics in 2012, it would be helpful to know something of its author, Karl Barth (1886-1968).  Born in Basel, Switzerland, Barth spent the majority of his childhood in Berne where his father, Fritz Barth, was Professor of Church History and New Testament Exegesis.  At age 16, Barth decided to become a theologian and began his studies at Berne in 1904 (age 18).  In addition to Berne, he studied in Berlin, Tübingen, and Marburg.  In 1909 he served as an apprentice pastor in Geneva, and from 1911 to 1921 he was pastor of a small church in the village of Safenwil. While at Safenwil, he wrote his Epistle to the Romans (Der Römerbrief, 1919, rev. 1921) marking a decisive departure from the thought of his teachers (Adolf von Harnack, Wilhelm Herrmann) and German Protestant Liberal theology of the day.  As Professor of theology in Göttingen (1921-25), Münster (1925-30), and Bonn (1930-35), Barth offered an alternative theological vision for the church.  Because he was an outspoken critic of the Nazi party and refused to swear allegiance to Adolf Hitler, he was forced to leave Germany in 1935.  The Barmen Declaration (1934) of the German Confessing Church was chiefly the work of Barth.  Leaving Germany, he returned to Switzerland and became Professor in Basel (1935–62). Barth married Nelly Hoffmann in 1913 and had five children (four sons and a daughter).  He died in Basel on December 10, 1968. (more…)

Tags: ,
Posted in Barth, Church, Formation | 2 Comments »