Karl Barth’s commentary on Paul’s epistle to the Romans, in its two editions (1919 and 1922), is one of the most significant works published in Christian theology in the 20th century. This book, which landed “like a bombshell on the theologians’ playground,” still deserves close scrutiny one hundred years after its publication. In this volume, New Testament scholars, philosophers of religion and systematic theologians ponder the intricacies of Barth’s “expressionistic” commentary, pointing out the ways in which Barth interprets Paul’s epistle for his own day, how this actualized interpretation of the apostle’s message challenged the theology of Barth’s time, and how some of the insights he articulated in 1919 and in 1922 have shaped Christian theology up to our day. With his commentary, the young Swiss pastor paved the way for a renewed, intensely theological interpretation of the Scriptures. The volume thus centers of some of the key themes which run through Barth’s commentary: faith as divine gift beyond any human experience or psychological data, the Easter event as the turning point of the world’s history, God’s judgment and mercy and God’s one Word in Jesus Christ. This volume represents a major contribution to the interpretation of Karl Barth’s early thought.

First published in 1959, Karl Barth's A Shorter Commentary on Romans originated as the manuscript for a course of extra-mural lectures held in Basle during the winter of 1940–41. During this time, Barth continued to resist the Nazi regime and its influence on the Reformed Church as he did when he was in Bonn. This reissue of Barth's A Shorter Commentary on Romans links to the renewed interest today in a 'theological' interpretation of Scripture. In response to the modern preoccupation with what lies behind the text (the author's context), and to a postmodern preoccupation with what lies in front of the text (the reader's context), both theologians and biblical scholars are asking the following questions: 'What is the relationship between the biblical text, interpreter and God?' 'Can the Bible be read both as an historical document and as a text that speaks to us today, and if so, how can it do so?' Barth's commentarial practice as exemplified in A Shorter Commentary on Romans answers these questions. This book is presented in two parts: first, an introduction by Maico Michielin helping readers understand Barth's theological exegetical approach to interpreting Scripture and showing readers how to let Scripture address theological and ethical concerns for today; the main body of the book then follows – the republication of the original English translation by D.H. van Daalen of Barth's A Shorter Commentary on Romans.

First published in 1959, Karl Barth's A Shorter Commentary on Romans originated as the manuscript for a course of extra-mural lectures held in Basle during the winter of 1940-41. During this time, Barth continued to resist the Nazi regime and its influence on the Reformed Church as he did when he was in Bonn. This reissue of Barth's A Shorter Commentary on Romans links to the renewed interest today in a 'theological' interpretation of Scripture. In response to the modern preoccupation with what lies behind the text (the author's context), and to a postmodern preoccupation with what lies in front of the text (the reader's context), both theologians and biblical scholars are asking the following questions: 'What is the relationship between the biblical text, interpreter and God?' 'Can the Bible be read both as an historical document and as a text that speaks to us today, and if so, how can it do so?' Barth's commentarial practice as exemplified in A Shorter Commentary on Romans answers these questions. This book is presented in two parts: first, an introduction by Maico Michielin helping readers understand Barth's theological exegetical approach to interpreting Scripture and showing readers how to let Scripture address theological and ethical concerns for today; the main body of the book then follows - the republication of the original English translation by D.H. van Daalen of Barth's A Shorter Commentary on Romans.

This reissue of Barth's A Shorter Commentary on Romans links to the renewed interest today in a 'theological' interpretation of Scripture. In response to the modern preoccupation with what lies behind the text (the author's context), and to a postmodern preoccupation with what lies in front of the text (the reader's context), both theologians and biblical scholars are asking the following questions: 'What is the relationship between the biblical text, interpreter and God?' 'Can the Bible be read both as an historical document and as a text that speaks to us today, and if so, how can it do so?' Barth's commentarial practice as exemplified in A Shorter Commentary on Romans answers these questions.This book is presented in two parts: first, an introduction by Maico Michielin helping readers understand Barth's theological exegetical approach to interpreting Scripture and showing readers how to let Scripture address theological and ethical concerns for today; the main body of the book then follows - the republication of the original English translation by D.H. van Daalen of Barth's A Shorter Commentary on Romans.

Scholars of Karl Barth's theology have been unanimous in labeling him a supralapsarian, largely because Barth identifies himself as such. In this groundbreaking and thoroughly researched work, Shao Kai Tseng argues that Barth was actually an infralapsarian, bringing Barth into conversation with recent studies in Puritan theology.

The Great and Holy War offers the first look at how religion created and prolonged the First World War, and the lasting impact it had on Christianity and world religions more extensively in the century that followed. The war was fought by the world's leading Christian nations, who presented the conflict as a holy war. A steady stream of patriotic and militaristic rhetoric was served to an unprecedented audience, using language that spoke of holy war and crusade, of apocalypse and Armageddon. But this rhetoric was not mere state propaganda. Philip Jenkins reveals how the widespread belief in angels, apparitions, and the supernatural, was a driving force throughout the war and shaped all three of the Abrahamic religions - Christianity, Judaism, and Islam - paving the way for modern views of religion and violence. The disappointed hopes and moral compromises that followed the war also shaped the political climate of the rest of the century, giving rise to such phenomena as Nazism, totalitarianism, and communism. Connecting remarkable incidents and characters - from Karl Barth to Carl Jung, the Christmas Truce to the Armenian Genocide - Jenkins creates a powerful and persuasive narrative that brings together global politics, history, and spiritual crisis. We cannot understand our present religious, political, and cultural climate without understanding the dramatic changes initiated by the First World War. The war created the world's religious map as we know it today.

Known for his acclaimed biography--Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts--Eberhard Busch subsequently wrote Karl Barth und die Pietism, a book on Barth's relationship to Pietism. Now translated into English, this exchange illuminates and puts into perspective the development of themes found throughout Barth's theological works such as the nature of scriptural authority, hell and universalism, the relationship between believers and unbelievers, the place of our experience in salvation, the preaching of repentance, the nature of conversion, and the relationship between law and gospel. Both Barth's affinity to Pietism and his critique of the movement shed light on his interaction with the English-speaking evangelical world, whose theology was significantly shaped by the Pietist movement. This work will make a significant contribution to Barth scholarship and to the ongoing discussion of Barth's theology, especially among evangelicals and others who share in the Pietistic theological heritage.

Hardly any Christian doctrine is discussed so much today as that of Holy Scripture. Innumerable books are published about it, and official discussions in many churches are concerned with it. Karl Barth’s doctrine plays a great part, whether positively or negatively, in all of these discussions and reports. His stature is so great that no one can deal with the problem of Holy Scripture without considering Barth’s view and defining his own position over against it. Indeed, many aspects of Barth’s view have come to be generally accepted as beyond criticism. Such uncritical acceptance is itself a good reason to devote a special study to Barth’s doctrine of Holy Scripture, because, no matter how we assess it, the Church Dogmatics of Karl Barth is one of the greatest forces in the modern theological world. In its vastness and variety, its comprehensiveness and detail, it constitutes a challenge to every school. Nor is it to be met by caricature or sweeping generalization. The individual themes demand searching analysis and appraisal at the exegetical, historical, and dogmatic levels at which Barth himself develops them. Only on the basis of detailed treatment can there be ultimate understanding and assessment of the whole. It is because Dr. Runia tackles this preliminary problem that his present work is so significant. He does not add to the list of general books. Choosing a critical and sensitive area, he devotes himself to the concentrated task of presenting the Barthian teaching on inspiration in its normative form. In the course of his analysis he examines the proposed biblical basis of Barth’s statement and brings it into lively interaction with the Reformation tradition which Barth believes that he represents. By means of a thorough inquiry into the single point, Dr. Runia thus gives us a far more informative, stimulating, and authoritative criticism that is possible in more comprehensive studies. The result is a valuable work which deserves to be widely studied and which should serve as a model for similar investigations into the many detailed themes of the Dogmatics. It is characterized by an honesty and relevance which gives it more than a narrowly academic interest. The real problems are faced, and it is candidly the most orthodox of statements. Yet the great verities of the traditional doctrine emerge the clearer and stronger for this powerful discussion, and in such a way that they may again make their salutary impact on a wider theological front.

For many scholars of theology, Karl Barth's break with liberalism is the most important event that has occurred in theology in over 200 years. Richard Burnett shows that an important part of Barth's break was his attempt to overcome the hermeneutical tradition of Schleiermacher. This is reflected throughout Barth's Romerbrief period and especially in his attempt to engage in 'theological exegesis'.The hermeneutical tradition of Schleiermacher begins with Herder and extends through Dilthey, Troeltsch, Wobbermin, Wernle and Barth himself prior to 1915. It exercised great influence throughout the twentieth century and is characterized by its attempt to integrate broad aspects of interpretation, to establish universally valid rules of interpretation on the basis of a general anthropology, and its reliance upon empathy ('Einfuhlung').Barth's discovery that the being of God is the hermeneutical problem (Jungel) implied that the object to be known should determine the way taken in knowing. This caused the rise of a hermeneutical revolution which gave priority to content over method, to actual exegesis over hermeneutical theory. Barth did have hermeneutical principles which he thought might apply generally, however. These are apparent in his Romerbrief period and specifically in his attempt to approach the Bible more according to its subject matter, content, and substance, entering with more attention and love into the meaning of the Bible itself.Richard Burnett focuses on these principles, which have never been discussed at length, nor specifically in relationship to Schleiermacher, and presents a study which challenges both 'neo-orthodox' and 'post-modern' readings of Karl Barth.

An expansive and ambitious intellectual history of democratic socialism from one of the world's leading intellectual historians and social ethicists The fallout from twenty years of neoliberal economic globalism has sparked a surge of interest in the old idea of democratic socialism--a democracy in which the people control the economy and government, no group dominates any other, and every citizen is free, equal, and included. With a focus on the intertwined legacies of Christian socialism and Social Democratic politics in Britain and Germany, this book traces the story of democratic socialism from its birth in the nineteenth century through the mid-1960s. Examining the tenets on which the movement was founded and how it adapted to different cultural, religious, and economic contexts from its beginnings through the social and political traumas of the twentieth century, Gary Dorrien reminds us that Christian socialism paved the way for all liberation theologies that make the struggles of oppressed peoples the subject of redemption. He argues for a decentralized economic democracy and anti-imperial internationalism.