Karl Barth: Spiritual Writings - A conversation with the editors

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Join me for a conversation with Dr. Ash Cocksworth (Twitter, University of Roehampton) as we talk about our recently released co-edited volume, Karl Barth: Spiritual Writings, in the Paulist Press Classics of Western Spirituality series.

During this conversation we talk about how Ash and I got to know each other and came to work together on this volume, what our favorite things about the book are, who should read the book, how politics relates to spirituality, and much more. Marmite even comes up at one point and a brilliant bit of wordplay by yours truly falls totally flat. It was a fun conversation.

Ash and I were joined by my friend Dr. Kate Hanch (Twitter, First St. Charles United Methodist Church), who functioned as our special guest host and moderator for the conversation. Once you’ve ordered your copy of Karl Barth: Spiritual Writings, head over to Fortress Press to pre-order Kate’s forthcoming book, Storied Witness: The Theology of Black Women Preachers in 19th-Century America.





A few lines from the conversation:

Ash: "From then on I was like, uh, I'd quite like to do a project with Travis...especially since 'cause it seems that we're into kind of neglected areas of Barth's theology."

Ash on Stephen Sykes's claim that "It's a strange thing to think of Barth as a spiritual writer": "The overall aim of the volume, really, is to make that claim feel a little bit less strange, to think that it might not be so odd to think of Barth as a spiritual writer."

Ash: "Finally it's out. We were thwarted by pandemic, financial crisis, even a worldwide paper shortage."

Me: "This was back in 2012." Ash: "We were so young, Travis, we were so young!" Me: "Yeah, a lot younger than now!"

Me: "What I think this volume can do...is be the introduction to Barth's theology for pastoral education. ... If you want to teach Barth to folks who are going to go to the ministry, I honestly believe that this book is probably where you want to start."

Me: "Spirituality is not about disengaging from the world, but about engaging with the world in a different and transformative way."

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