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Showing posts from February, 2011

Johnson on Söhngen and Barth on Intrinsic and Extrinsic Analogy

When we arrive at the below quote, Johnson has just finished sketching Söhngen’s proposal for establishing an analogy of being that is integrated with and in many ways subsumed under an analogy of faith. As Johnson establishes, Söhngen’s work convinced Barth that Przywara’s analogy of being did not necessarily represent Roman Catholic theology (read: Thomas Aquinas), and that therefore the analogy of being is not necessarily the invention of the Anti-christ. But, it is also not the case that Barth can simply jump on board with Söhngen’s position. Thus, Johnson gives us the below. Keith L. Johnson, Karl Barth and the Analogia entis, T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology (London; T&T Clark, 2010). [W]hile Söhngen may be correct that Barth does have to talk about a participation entis - and, by implication, an analogia entis - if he talks about an analogia fidei , he is incorrect to think that Barth’s definition of either term stands in line with his own. The key differ

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

…or, Something to keep you busy over the weekend… …or, The Past Fortnight in the Theoblogosphere. Well, not really “fortnight” this time. I intend to do these things every 2 weeks, but there has been a lot of good stuff circulating over the last week so I figured that I’d go ahead and post them. DET, Call for Guest Writers - That’s right, I’m plugging myself first. If you want to write for me, I want to hear from you. “The truth will make you free” - My close friend, colleague, and co-editor (David Congdon) provides an in-depth (make that a very, very in depth) analysis and response to Charles Colson’s recent Christianity Today column. If you or someone you love is an evangelical, you should read this. ”God Loves His Enemies - Another friend of mine and former KBBC participant posts a sermon that references a Far Side cartoon. How to Offer Gluten Free Communion - Another friend (is this starting to sound nepotistic?) and now ordained minister offers advice on the title

Calvin on Scholarship and Ministry

"None will ever be a good minister of the word of God, unless he is first of all a scholar." -- John Calvin From a sermon on Deuteronomy 5.23-7, as quoted in Ronald Wallace, Calvin's Doctrine of the Word and Sacrament , 120.

Call for Guest Writers

Greetings all, I really like posting stuff from guest writers. That is one of the great joys of the Karl Barth Blog Conference, and I always jump at the opportunity to publish quality stuff from other writers. For instance, in January I was privileged to post a sermon for Epiphany from Nathan Hitchcock, and series on Calvin’s humanity from Adam Neder. Are you a junior faculty member somewhere and you want to get involved in the theo-blogosphere, but – for whatever reason – you don’t want to manage your own blog? Get in touch with me and let’s see if we can’t publish something from you here are DET. Are you a doctoral student who thinks that some obscure theological figure or topic is really neat, and should be more readily accessible? Get in touch with me and let’s see if we can’t raise their / its profile with a post here at DET. Are you a masters student who wrote a clever paper for a class and wish that others could read it and see how clever it was? Get in touch with me and

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

…or, Something to keep you busy over the weekend… …or, The Past Fortnight in the Theoblogosphere. Here are some posts that I have enjoyed over the past couple of weeks, presented in no particular order: Analogia Entis: Multiple, Moving Targets - My friend and sometime blog interlocutor is once again talking about the analogy of being. This time, however, his musings are much more satisfactory even if he does not sufficiently highlight the remaining uniqueness of Barth’s position. Why Calvinist, Evangelical Calvinist? - I’m sure most DET readers have stumbled acrossed Bobby Grow. But if you haven’t, this post is a great opportunity to get acquainted. Bobby has spent the last few years thinking through Calvinism and its variants on the way to further developing and highlighting an overlooked and underappreciated strand. Immanuel Kant’s Guide to a Good Dinner Party - Not joke, he actually produced such a guide. Fun reading. beauty tips for ministers - A student at PTS critica

New Center for Barth Studies Book Review

Sarah Stewart-Kroeker reviews David Guretzki 's Karl Barth on the Filioque (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2009) . Sarah is a doctoral student here at PTS, and David teaches and administrates at Briercrest in Saskatchewan. He will also be contributing to the published version of the 2010 Karl Barth Blog Conference.

Don Dayton on Barth and Various Evangelicalisms

In this excerpt, Dayton speaks of a sabbatical he spent in Tübingen, interacting with the German equivalent of those called “evangelicals” in the USA. During this trip he discovered Busch’s book on Barth and Pietism, which helped him find clarity on various aspects of evangelical heritage and Barth’s value as a conversation partner. Donald W. Dayton, “Foreward,” Karl Barth & the Pietists: The Young Karl Barth’s critique of Pietism & Its Response , Eberhard Busch (Daniel W. Bloesch, trans.; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004): x. I was used to the typical American distinction between “conservative” and “liberal” theology. [German evangelicals] spoke of the contrast between “academic” ( Universitätstheologie ) theology and “church” theology ( Gemeindetheologie ). They took their clues not so much from the fundamentalist-modernist controversy as from the earlier Pietist currents of the seventeenth and eighteenth century as they were reshaped in the nineteenth century i

Thinking about Barth on Schleiermacher and Theological Language

Barth is here discussing Schleiermacher’s Encyclopedia . Emphasis is mine. Karl Barth, The Theology of Schleiermacher: Lectures at Göttingen, Winter Semester of 1923-24 (Dietrich Ritschl, ed.; Geoffrey W. Bromiley, trans.; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982): 162. …Schleiermacher discusses the question of the scientific character of dogmatics. Here he honors…the proof from speculation alongside the proof from the canon. “The strictly didactic expression,” says §213, which the “scientific attitude gives” to dogmatics “is dependent on the prevailing state of the philosophical disciplines,” formally on logic, materially on psychology and ethics. Any philosophy but one that is materialistic, sensualistic, or atheistic can be linked to dogmatics , teaches §214. Hence, according to the philosophy that a dogmatician accepts, there can be different versions of the same doctrine without altering its religious content….[T]here results “a differing expression of

Blog Series from N. Maddox on Calvin's Doctrine of Providence

I've highlighted Maddox's blog before, but he is currently engaged in taking a very careful look at Calvin's doctrine of providence and I wanted to call this to your attention. He has already done three posts , but watch the main page or add him to your reader to stay on top of coming installments.

Barth on How to Approach the Theological Tradition

Daniel Migliore, “Karl Barth’s First Lectures in Dogmatics: Instruction in the Christian Religion ” in Karl Barth, The Göttingen Dogmatics: Instruction in the Christian Religion , vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991): xxxiv-xxxv. In the Göttingen lectures Barth refers repeatedly to his mentors in the Reformed tradition as “the older writers”, “our older Protestant predecessors”, “the older Orthodox” theologians, “our forefathers”, “our older Protestant fathers”, “the older dogmaticians”. Indeed, he cites them far more often than either Calvin or Luther. Barth not only takes the Reformed scholastics seriously, but finds their theologoumena impressive despite their “baroque garb”. But while he often employs the categories and distinctions of the scholastics, he does not slavishly follow them. Wishing that theology today could regain something of the “remarkable objectivity and perspicacity” of the “masters of the old theological school”, he nevert

Some Helpful Definitions from Ol’ KB

I offer these definitions from the lion of Basel in commemoration of the commencement of George Hunsinger's first ever survey course on Karl Barth. It is my joy to serve as one of the preceptors, and I'm looking forward to an engaging semester. Karl Barth, “Evangelical Theology in the 19th Century,” in The Humanity of God , 11. “Theology,” in the literal sense, means the science and doctrine of God. A very precise definition of the Christian endeavor in this respect would really require the more complex term “The-anthropology.” For an abstract doctrine of God has no place in the Christian realm, only a “doctrine of God and of man,” a doctrine of the commerce and communion between God and man. “Evangelical” means informed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, as heard afresh in the 16th-century Reformation by direct return to Holy Scripture. “Evangelical theology” must thus be understood as the science and doctrine of the commerce and communion between God and man, informed by th

Did Philip Schaff Predict Barth’s Accomplishment 6 Years After Barth’s Birth?

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A friend and sometimes blog interlocutor recently included this quote in a post. I've had it sitting in my blog post draft pile for a while now, but figured I'd post it now and add my voice to his to get it a little recognition. Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church : Volume 8, The Swiss Reformation, The Protestant Reformation in German, Italian, and French Switzerland up to the Close of the Sixteenth Century, 1529-1605 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2002 [orig pub. 1892]): 544. Calvinism has the advantage of logical compactness, consistency, and completeness. Admitting its premises, it is difficult to escape its conclusions. A system can only be overthrown by a system. It requires a theological genius of the order of Augustin and Calvin, who shall rise above the antagonism of divine sovereignty and human freedom, and shall lead us to a system built upon the rock of the historic Christ, and inspired from beginning to end with the love of God to all man