Papers presented at a conference held June 22-24, 2007 in Princeton, N.J.

This long-standing series provides the guild of religion scholars a venue for publishing aimed primarily at colleagues. It includes scholarly monographs, revised dissertations, Festschriften, conference papers, and translations of ancient and medieval documents. Works cover the sub-disciplines of biblical studies, history of Christianity, history of religion, theology, and ethics. Festschriften for Karl Barth, Donald W. Dayton, James Luther Mays, Margaret R. Miles, and Walter Wink are among the seventy-five volumes that have been published. Contributors include: C. K. Barrett, Francois Bovon, Paul S. Chung, Marie-Helene Davies, Frederick Herzog, Ben F. Meyer, Pamela Ann Moeller, Rudolf Pesch, D. Z. Phillips, Rudolf Schnackenburgm Eduard Schweizer, John Vissers

The theology of Karl Barth has often been a productive dialogue partner for evangelical theology, but for too long the dialogue has been dominated by questions of orthodoxy. Karl Barth and the Future of Evangelical Theology contributes to the conversation through a creative reconfiguration of both partners in the conversation, neither of whom can be rightly understood as preservers of Protestant orthodoxy. Rather, American evangelicalism is identified with the revivalist forms of Protestantism that arose in the post-Reformation era, while Barth is revisited as a theologian attuned both to divine and human agency. In the ensuing conversation, questions of orthodoxy are not eliminated but subordinated to a concern for the life of God and God's people. By offering an alternative to the dominant constraints, this book opens up new avenues for fruitful conversation on Barth and the future of evangelical theology.

Swiss theologian Karl Barth traveled to the United States only once during his long career. In 1962, newly retired, he came to visit family and to deliver a series of lectures subsequently published (by Eerdmans) as Evangelical Theology: An Introduction, which remains in print and widely read to this day. Besides recounting some delightful and poignant biographical details about Barth s two-month journey through the States, the authors of this book revisit central themes in Barth s mature theology and explore the theological and ethical significance of his Evangelical Theology. Even more, the distinguished scholars contributing to this volume assess contemporary North American theology and show how Barth s Evangelical Theology remains as bracing, powerful, and relevant today as it was fifty years ago. Contributors: David W. Congdon Jessica DeCou Hans-Anton Drewes Kevin W. Hector George Hunsinger Cambria Janae Kaltwasser Gerald McKenny Daniel L. Migliore Adam Neder Peter J. Paris Katherine Sonderegger

This study looks at the formation of theology as it emerges out of biography. Indeed, the biography of the theologian is the key to unlocking the meaning of his or her writings, and a valuable tool for a thorough investigation of their work. There will be a focus on the biography of Karl Barth and how this relates to his theological writings. Attention will then be turned on a group of North American theologians to analyze how Barth's theology has influenced their personal experiences and corresponding theologies. The personal experience of the theologian provides the background to the theological judgments she or he makes, and therefore provides valuable insight into what she or he has written. Experiences in the theologian's life determine how she or he forms and communicates the ideas that the experiences have given rise to. Indeed, theologians profoundly connect with readers as they write theology as an expression of their experiences of faith. Therefore, this book contends that there is a necessary connection to be made between the theologian as a person and the theology that emerges out of her or his unique biography. Indeed, it will be argued that theology is born out of the lived encounters of the theologian that develop into the kind of personal convictions, passions, concerns, questions, and a motivation to connect with others that is evident in her or his writing. Consequently, theology and theologian are inseparable.

This refreshingly accessible introduction to Karl Barth by Mark Galli takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the life and writings of this giant of twentieth-century theology. Galli pays special attention to themes and topics of concern for contemporary evangelicals, who may need Barth's acute critique as much as early-twentieth-century liberals did--and for surprisingly similar reasons.

This volume aims to engage with Karl Barth's questions and answers on a range of topics vital to Christian theology. Specifically, whether by going beyond, behind or against Barth, the chapters presented here attempt to provide a contemporary orientation to certain aspects of Barth's theology that can be deemed problematic from the standpoint of historic, confessional evangelicalism. Why engage with Barth? And why the particular approach of this book? The answer to the first question is that Barth's significance as arguably the greatest theologian of the twentieth century - increasingly being recognized in an ongoing renaissance of international Barth scholarship - means that Barth provides both opportunity and challenge for evangelicalism. There is renewed interest in the question of how evangelicals should or should not appropriate Barth. Given the sheer diversity within worldwide evangelicalism, a consensus is unlikely to be reached. Be that as it may, in a range of areas, evangelical theology stands to gain from careful and critical listening to what Barth has to say.

Provides an assessment of Karl Barth's influence and proposes how his work can be used as a guide for contemporary theology.

Karl Barth was the master theologian of our age. Whenever men in the past generation have reflected deeply on the ultimate problems of life and faith, they have done so in a way that bears the mark of the intellectual revolution let loose by this Swiss thinker. But his life was not simply one of quiet reflection and scholarship. He was obliged to do his thinking and writing in one of the stormiest periods of history, and he always attempted to speak to the problems and concerns of the time. In June 1933 he emerged as the theologian of the Confessional movement, which was attempting to preserve the integrity of the Evangelical Church in Germany against corruption from within and terror from without. His leadership in this struggle against Nazism also made it necessary for him to say something about the totalitarianism that the Soviet power was clamping down upon a large part of Europe. In this indirect way, a Barthian social philosophy emerged, and this theologian, who abjured apologetics and desired nothing but to expound the Word of God, was compelled by circumstances to propound views on society and the state that make him one of the most influential social thinkers of our time. David Haddorff is Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at St. John's University, New York. He is the author of several articles and reviews, and the book: Dependence and Freedom: The Moral Thought of Horace Bushnell (1994). Table of Contents: Introduction by David Haddorff - Karl Barth's Theological Politics 1 Gospel and Law 71 Church and State 101 The Christian Community and the Civil Community 149 Bibliography 191