Evangelical Theology
Barth's 1962 American lectures — a late-Barthian summary of evangelical theology
Tradition: Reformed dialectical theology / late Barth
Barth's 1962 American lectures — late-career introduction to evangelical theology delivered at Princeton and Chicago
Delivered as the 1962 Warfield Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary (the most prestigious lecture-series of American Reformed theology, founded by Benjamin B. Warfield's bequest) and at the University of Chicago Divinity School in spring 1962 — Barth's only visit to the United States, made when he was 76 — and published in 1963 as 'Einführung in die evangelische Theologie' (Introduction to Evangelical Theology) and in English as 'Evangelical Theology: An Introduction', the book is Barth's late-career summary of evangelical theology in fifteen lectures across four sections. Section A: The Place of Theology — Lectures 1-4 on the proper location of theology (in the Church, in the academy, in the world). Section B: Theological Existence — Lectures 5-8 on what it means to be a theologian (wonder, concern, commitment, faith). Section C: The Threat to Theology — Lectures 9-12 on the dangers theology faces (solitude, doubt, temptation, hope). Section D: Theological Work — Lectures 13-15 on the actual practice of theology (prayer, study, service). The book is one of the most accessible Barth texts and the principal source for his mature understanding of the theological vocation as a distinct intellectual-religious practice. Major distinctive emphases include: the centrality of the Word of God (Christ as God's primary self-revelation; Scripture as witness; the proclaimed Word as continuing encounter); the distinction between theology and religious philosophy (theology proceeds from the actuality of God's self-revelation; religious philosophy from human religious experience); the place of prayer as the proper attitude of the theologian (a theme Barth had developed extensively in the Church Dogmatics); the rejection of natural theology (continuing Barth's lifelong polemic against natural-theological apologetics). The book is the most accessible single statement of Barth's mature understanding of the theological vocation.
Author
Editions cited
- Einführung in die evangelische Theologie (EVZ-Verlag, Zürich, 1962)
- English translation: Grover Foley, Evangelical Theology: An Introduction (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963; Eerdmans reissue 1979)
- Companion: Church Dogmatics, 4 vols in 13 parts (T&T Clark, 1936-1969) — Barth's massive systematic work, of which Evangelical Theology is the accessible summary
- Critical context: Eberhard Busch, Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts (Eerdmans, 1976); Bruce L. McCormack, Karl Barth's Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology (Oxford, 1995)
School Embodiments
Late-Barth mature theological summary.
"Evangelical theology is conditioned and characterised, finally, by being the theology of the gospel." (Evangelical Theology, ch. 1)
Strong confessional-Christian framework.
"The Christian Gospel as the proper subject-matter of theology." (Evangelical Theology, ch. 1)
Strong scriptural framework.
"Scripture is the source of theological knowledge." (Evangelical Theology, ch. 3)
Late-Barth continued rejection of natural theology.
"Natural theology cannot supplement revealed." (Evangelical Theology, ch. 2)
Neo-orthodox tradition.
Internal Tensions
Late-career accessible Barth; his only American lecture tour. Continuously read as the standard short introduction to Barth's understanding of theology as a distinct intellectual-religious practice; one of the most-translated and most-read twentieth-century Protestant-theological short works.
I. Time
Spring 1962 lectures; 1962 German publication; 1963 English. Barth was 76, four years before his 1968 death.
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II. Space
Princeton Theological Seminary and University of Chicago Divinity School (American venues) / Basel (Barth's home). The American visit was Barth's only one and was a major event in American Protestant theology.
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III. Matter
Fifteen-lecture summary (~210 pages in standard English translation). Form is lecture-essayistic, with each lecture treating one aspect of the theological vocation.
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IV. Observer
Late Barth. The observer-theologian is the senior figure of twentieth-century Protestant theology at the close of his active career.
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V. Energy
Late-synthesising energies. The book consolidates Barth's mature positions on the theological vocation in accessible form.
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VI. Information
Single lecture-based book of fifteen lectures in four sections.
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How Evangelical Theology resolves each dilemma
51 resolved positions across 4 dimensions, including 3 distinctive where the majority of schools go the other way · 6 unaligned.
Each dimension is sorted so minority positions come first. Mainstream positions are folded into an expandable list.
Time · 9 dilemmas · 3 distinctive
Persistence, the future, and the direction of becoming.