Karl Barth: Doctrine of God Vol II.1

I like Karl Barth much more than I did before I read him directly. How's that for an honest statement? I'll say the same thing about Schleiermacher's Christian Faith. However much I do enjoy reading Barth, its never without reservation. I would never flip to a page in the Dogmatics and trust it with authority like I would with Calvin's Institutes. The great value is his provocative thinking and excellent exegesis. Even when I do not agree with Barth, he has done his homework, and provides copious direct quotations from great authorities such as Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin and other Church Fathers. His arguments are very good, although the flowery dialectic makes the arguments difficult to follow, but that's due to the subjects he's entertaining.

After reading Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics Volume 2.1 The Doctrine of God (the first of two half volumes), I wanted to list a few reflections on the topics in this book. It will take too long to quote the Doctrine of God, so unfortunately I will not be as good of an exegete as Barth himself.

Authorities

There are several authors that Barth quotes often in that I've never heard of before, and they are used primarily has authorities and heirs to Calvin and the original reformers.

1. Johannes Coccejus (1603 – 1669), A Dutch theologian who wrote a large reformed systematic theology called: "Summa Doctrinae de Foedere et Testamento Dei" (1648)
   
2. Johannes Andreas Quenstedt (1617 – 1688) A German Lutheran "Theologia didactico-polemica sive systema theologicum"(1685)
   
3. Amandus Polanus (1561-1610), quoted as an authority for the "older" Reformed Theology, especially in his: "Syntagma Theologiae Christianae" (1609)
   
4. Franciscus Gomarus (1563 - 1641) A Dutch Theologian, and Calvinist authority. Especially, his: "Opera Theologica Omnia" (1644 posth)

Natural Revelation

Barth is famous for his denial of Natural Revelation, and this argument is fully developed in this volume. As a protestant, I reject Thomas Aquinas and the Roman Catholic's Nature and Grace distinctions, and deny that salvific knowledge may be derived from nature. However, I stand with Calvin against Barth's insistence that no knowledge of God may be known from nature apart from God's word. Romans 1-2 are the clearest texts demonstrating Calvin's sensus divinus that exists in all men. However, Barth makes an excellent counter argument that any knowledge of God obtained from nature (and specifically philosophy) quickly turns into a false-God which stands in opposition to the true God. Much of the debate in the Dogmatics revolves around Psalms 8, 19, 104, and especially Psalms 8 and 104. Additionally, Barth spends copious ink on God's answer to Job in Job 38, and subsequent chapters:  Job 38-42

God's Immutability

Barth insists that immutability does not mean immobility, because he believes a immobile God is a dead God, because immobility is death and death is immobility, etc. And define's God's Immutability in terms of "constancy". Barth argues to the point of saying God does change his mind by quoting an example of David being told by God something would happen, and then it does not happen to him. (I don't remember the reference.) Much is of this concept is the preface to God's freedom, where God is only limited by himself.

Scientia Media (Middle Knowledge)

At the end of Vol 2.1, as a preface to Vol 2.2's extended discussion of Barthian Election, scientia media is briefly discussed. It's difficult to clearly label Barth's beliefs by the way he engages his sources, but much time is devoted to debating against Thomas Aquinas's doctrine of scientia media, with much positive statements about the Jesuit's Molinistic views of Free Will against Thomas. Middle Knowledge refers to God's ability to know every contingency over all time, such that for any choice, God knows the outcomes. Barth gives the example of Jesus saying in Matt 11:21; Luke 10:13 that if Tyre and Sidon had the visitation of Chorazin, they would have repented.. Molinism is Barth's compromise between Semi-Pelagianism and absolutum decretum (ie. Absolute Decree, Double Predestination). And Molinism is defined by attributing scientia media to God, but quickly adding that God knows what man's free will would do in any of those contingencies. It appears to be no more than a glorified "divine" foreknowledge of free will, and a contradiction. This is instrumental to Barth's doctrine of election that leads towards universalism. In some regard, this section is an attempt to reconcile Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed doctrines on Predestination.

Eucharist

Barth compares and contrasts the Reformed verse Lutheran views on communion, and likewise tries to find common ground between this doctrine that divide protestantism. The Calvinist (and Reformed) argument of extra Calvinisticum for Real Spiritual Presence in the eucharist maintained that Christ's Body is in one physical location, and therefore affirm Christ's humanity. The Lutheran ubiquity affirms Christ's divine nature and omnipresence. God is not nowhere, but he is not anyone specific. The Luther's lose the human Christ for the sake of ubiquity but the Calvinists lose the omnipresence of Christ in the extra Calvinisticum by requiring Christ to be limited to the location of the right hand of God. Barth's argument is that the "right hand of God" is not one location.

By: Wyatt Houtz

Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics

Although Karl Barth wrote many books, in order to fully engage Barth, the Church Dogmatics must be read first. Most people only engage Barth's Evangelical Theology, or possibly his commentary on Romans (Epistle to the Romans), but Barth wrote in the preface to the sixth edition of the commentary on Romans that he now realized that he'd have to rewrite the commentary and revising it would not be possible (paraphrase). Barth originally titled his Dogmatics, "Christian Dogmatics", but started the Dogmatics over after finishing the first volume (or second?) with his Church Dogmatics. I've read part of the first half volume of the Dogmatics called "The Word of God Vol1.1", and recently skipped ahead to Barth's "Doctrine of God" (Vol 2.1 and 2.2).

Karl Barth's Doctine of God are Volume 2.1 and Volume 2.2 of his Church Dogmatics. I'm reading the older T&T Clark editions of the Church Dogmatics. Unfortunately, there are long sections of untranslated latin and greek quotations that make Barth's arguments difficult to follow without a translation. Barth writes a summary of what he believes in large print and immediately follows that summary with a long paragraph with the "fine print" full of latin and greek quotations from church fathers that justify what Barth had wrote in the summary. However, if you want to spend the money on the Church Dogmatic 31 Volume Study Edition, it has the translations inline. I am not made of money, so I was only able to purchase a used copy of The Doctrine of God (Volume 2.1 and 2.2). I've recently completed reading Volume 2.1, which is almost 700pages, but half the pages are in small print, so it reads more like a 1,000 page book. Now, I'm a hundred pages into Volume 2.2, and this second part is a hundred pages longer than the first volume.

Unlike most Systematic Theologies, Barth's Dogmatic places The Doctrine of God in the second two-part volume, following his two-part Volume 1 on the Word of God. This is characteristic of Barth's Christocentricism.  I may talk about Barth's understanding of the Word of God another time. The Doctrine of God unfolds the ground work of the introductory Volume's 1.1 and 1.2, and begins the fullness of Barthianism that is unpacked in the rest of the 13 volumes.

Karl Barth is a Swiss Reformed Theologian, who wrote during and after World War II. He has been increasingly more famous since the Dogmatics were published. His writings directly engaged great theologians, and he is especially famous for his criticisms of Schleiermacher's "On the Christian Faith", which I read last year. However, his biggest critics of Barth are those close to my heart in the Reformed Community. A notable example are the followers of Cornelius Van Til, as well as Van Til's book, "Christianity and Barthianism".

By: Wyatt Houtz