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Showing posts from January, 2020

Barth's "Göttingen Dogmatics" - §2: Preaching as the Starting Point and Goal of Dogmatics

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More on Barth’s first dogmatics lectures! This episode addresses the relationship between dogmatics and preaching. We get a number of Barth “greatest hits” – like an early form of his approach to the three-fold Word of God (revelation, scripture, and preaching), and his distinction between regular and irregular dogmatics. But the central issue is the relationship between God’s word and the human word of preaching. Also, I use the idea of Sachkritik to expand on Barth’s definition of theology. Karl Barth, The Göttingen Dogmatics: Instruction in the Christian Religion This is part 3 of a multi-part series, and you can find the series index here . ================================== Follow @WTravisMcMaken Subscribe to Die Evangelischen Theologen

Theology and "The Promise of Hope," with Christine Helmer

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Long-time readers will know that those of us here at DET have a tendency post on the subject of theology. You know, from time to time. And sometimes those posts take a step back and reflect on what exactly theology is , how to best explain it, and so on. It’s sort of like that scene in the movie, Office Space : “What would you say…you do here?” So, for instance, a quick perusal of the blog yielded these relevant results: What is theology? Who is a theologian? Why should theology persist? (2011) Sarah Coakley defines Systematic Theology (2014) Theology = Worldview? Christine Helmer on the Problem with Contemporary Approaches to Doctrine (2015) Marilynne Robinson on Theology (2017) Now I’m circling back to one name that’s already on that list – Christine Helmer. In her new book, How Luther Became the Reformer (2019) , she pauses to reflect on the discipline of theology in the midst of some rather fascinating historiographical analysis. She pauses for these reflections in