The Humanity of Christ: Christology in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics
Overview
Drawing on the best English and German language scholarship to date, this book offers a novel interpretation of Barth’s mature Christology. Examining the entirety of the Dogmatics, it provides a nuanced analysis of Barth’s treatment of the Chalcedonian Definition, the enhypostasis/anhypostasis pairing, and various Protestant scholastic Christological distinctions; an examination of the co-inherence of Barth’s doctrines of God and Christ, which contributes to current debates about Barth’s doctrine of election; and a lengthy account of the Christology of Church Dogmatics IV that foregrounds Barth’s understanding of Christ’s human involvement in the drama of reconciliation. Throughout the text, the author shows convincingly that Barth’s emphasis on Christ’s divinity goes hand-in-hand with a dogmatically rich and often startling account of Christ’s humanity. The text does not confine itself to the Church Dogmatics. It also situates Barth in the context of the wider Christian tradition and modern western philosophy of religion. Thus Barth is set in conversation with a wide range of thinkers, including Anselm of Canterbury, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Friedrich Schleiermacher, G.W.F. Hegel, Gottfried Thomasius, and Harry Frankfurt. In addition, the text makes a number of constructive gestures, showing a particular interest in feminist and liberationist trajectories of thought. The final chapter considers the standing of Barth’s Christology today and its pertinence for theological ethics and political theology.
Top Highlights
“Barth could also specify ‘the Subject of revelation [as] the Person of the Logos who has veiled Himself in human flesh” (Page 23)
“The connection forged between the munus triplex and the two states adds further complexity” (Page 125)
“the point at which Barth firmly secures a Christocentric orientation for his theology” (Page 17)
“God’s immanent being and God’s revelatory activity must be cleanly distinguished, for God exists as a self-sufficient Subject before, beyond and unrelated to God’s self-presentation.” (Page 64)
“terms of what they do—namely, participate in and bring about the concrete, simple and personal existence of Jesus Christ” (Page 135)
- Title: The Humanity of Christ: Christology in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics
- Author: Paul Dafydd Jones
- Publisher: T&T Clark
- Print Publication Date: 2011
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Jesus Christ › Person and offices; Barth, Karl, 1886-1968 › Church Dogmatics
- ISBNs: 9780567012005, 056701200X
- Resource ID: LLS:HMNTYCHRSTCHRST
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:33:06Z