Reading Karl Barth: New Directions for North American Theology

by Kurt A. Richardson

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2004

Overview

For evangelicals still skittish about Karl Barth’s place in modern theology, Kurt A. Richardson provides both an assessment of Barth’s influence and a proposal for using his work in contemporary theology. Reading Karl Barth introduces Barth’s continuing influence and the recent development of theology in America. Richardson examines Barth’s theology to describe how Barth can guide modern theology in new directions. This approachable introduction will be enjoyed by pastors, church leaders, and thoughtful laypeople who want to reflect on Barth’s influence and theology.

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Key Features

• Introduces Karl Barth’s theology
• Assesses Barth’s influence on contemporary theology
• Presents recent theological developments in America

Product Details

• Title: Reading Karl Barth: New Directions for North American Theology
• Author: Kurt A. Richardson
• Edition: 1st
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Publication Date: 2004
• Pages: 256

About Kurt A. Richardson

Karl Barth (1886–1968), a Swiss Protestant theologian and pastor, was one of the leading thinkers of twentieth-century theology, described by Pope Pius XII as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas. He helped to found the Confessing Church and his thinking formed the theological framework for the Barmen Declaration. He taught in Germany, where he opposed the Nazi regime. In 1935, when he refused to take the oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler, he was forced to retire from his position at the University of Bonn and deported to Switzerland. There he continued to write and develop his theology.

Barth’s work and influence resulted in the formation of what came to be known as neoorthodoxy. For Barth, modern theology, with its assent to science, immanent philosophy, and general culture and with its stress on feeling, was marked by indifference to the word of God and to the revelation of God in Jesus, which he thought should be the central concern of theology.

Kurt Anders Richardson received his doctorate in theology at the University of Basel in Switzerland and is on the faculty of theology at McMaster University and Trinity College, University of Toronto. He is cofounder of the Society for Scriptural Reasoning and Comparative Theology in the American Academy of Religion and the Method in Systematic Theology in the Evangelical Theological Society. He has published numerous works, including James in The New American Commentary Series.