The G Ttingen Dogmatics: Instruction in the Christian Religion

One of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century, Karl Barth is best known for his monumental"Church Dogmatics," a work that changed the modern theological landscape.It is less well known that Barth taught three distinct cycles of courses in dogmatics during his lifetime. His first effort co [...]
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One of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century, Karl Barth is best known for his monumental"Church Dogmatics," a work that changed the modern theological landscape.It is less well known that Barth taught three distinct cycles of courses in dogmatics during his lifetime. His first effort consisted of a series of lectures at the University of Gottingen in 1924-25. These provocative lectures are now available in English for the first time in"The Gottingen Dogmatics: Instruction in the Christian Religion," a work that is at once accessible and profoundly pastoral. Representing the only larger dogmatics ever completed by Barth, the"Gottingen Dogmatics"prefigures the unfinished"Christian Dogmatics"of Munster and the"Church Dogmatics"of Bonn and Basel. This translation by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, the premier translator of Barth, offers in two volumes the full text of Barth's Gottingen lectures according to the excellent three-volume Swiss edition in the"Gesamtausgabe (Collected Words)." In this first volume Barth defines"dogmatics"as "scientific reflection on the Word of God" the Word that is (1) spoken by God in revelation, (2) recorded in holy scripture, and (3) proclaimed and heard in Christian preaching. After his lengthy prolegomena on the threefold form of the Word of God, Barth discusses in depth the doctrine of God. His treatment of the other major doctrinal loci in his preaching-oriented dogmatics anthropology, reconciliation, and redemption (eschatology) will appear in Volume Two. Daniel L. Migliore, professor of systematic theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, has written a superb, substantive introduction that highlights the theological and historical significance of the"Gottingen Dogmatics"and compares this work with Barth's"Church Dogmatics." Migliore points out, among other things, the intimate bond for Barth between dogmatics and preaching: in the Gottingen lectures we see a Barth "who tenaciously does theology indeed defines theology in relation to preaching and pastoral praxis." Ministers, seminary students, scholars, and theologically minded general readers will all appreciate and benefit from the"Gottingen Dogmatics." As Migliore writes, "These lectures not only provide exceedingly rich new material for understanding the development of Barth's thought but also offer a remarkably original, lively, and 'reader-friendly' summary of Barth's earthly theology. . . . The clarity, passion, originality, struggle, candor, and humor exhibited in these lectures will establish a permanent place for them in the history of twentieth-century theology.""