Research

John Webster’s essay, “Reading the Bible: The Example of Barth and Bonhoeffer” (pages 87–110 in Word and Church: Essays in Christian Dogmatics [Edinburgh; New York: T&T Clark, 2001]) is, in large part, the inspiration for my doctoral dissertation. I’d like to share the three reflections/lessons Webster draws from the biblical work of Barth and Bonhoeffer. Wrapping up his essay, Webster claims that Neither Bonhoeffer nor Barth were wissenschaftlich theologians; both were practical or pastoral theologians of the church of Jesus Christ....

Note that, as of 2019-01-26, 54 volumes of the Gesamtausgabe have been published. Unfortunately, only the first 45 of these are available in the Digital Karl Barth Library. *I’ve marked volumes unavailable in the DKBL with an asterisk. According to the publisher, TVZ: Seit 1971 sind im Theologischen Verlag Zürich mehr als 50 Bände der Karl Barth-Gesamtausgabe erschienen. In ihr werden Barths Texte kritisch ediert und so präsentiert, dass sie für die wissenschaftliche Beschäftigung, aber auch für einen grösseren Interessentenkreis lesbar und zugänglich werden....

To make this list, I’ve used the data available in the Digital Karl Barth Library. I’ve just taken the tables of contents in the sermon volumes of Barth’s collected works and put them all in one place. The only way to display the dates correctly in Markdown is to write these up as code blocks, as I’ve done below. Predigten 1913 (GA I.8) 1. und 5. Januar (Neujahr): Prediger 1,9 12....

There’s an intriguing passage in Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison where he discusses the relationship between “spirit” and “flesh,” in the context of discussing “restoration” and “sublimation,” in the context of discussing lyrics from certain hymns and songs that were meaningful to him in prison. Here it is, from a December 19, 1943 (the Fourth Sunday of Advent) letter to Eberhard Bethge: In recent weeks this line has been running through my head over and over: “Calm your hearts, dear friends; / whatever plagues you, / whatever fails you, / I will restore it all....

In The Epistle to the Romans, Barth writes the following concerning the false image of God at the heart of religion: What men on this side resurrection name ‘God’ is most characteristically not God. Their ‘God’ does not redeem his creation, but allows free course to the unrighteousness of men; does not declare himself to be God, but is the complete affirmation of the course of the world and of men as it is....

I argue that, although Barth’s interpretation of the Genesis passages changed between The Epistle to the Romans and the Church Dogmatics, his mature readings of Genesis 2–3 still support his overall theological critique of religion as idolatry, the self-justifying positing of false gods. Specifically, in Romans (240–57, esp. 246–51), Barth interpreted “the knowledge of good and evil” as the divine secret that humans are merely humans. The prohibition of eating from the tree of knowledge thereby concealed the creator/creature distinction and was meant to enable a direct relationship between God and humans....

(Note: Read more about my work on Barth, Bonhoeffer, and the Bible here.) I’m really looking forward to reading these two Barth (and Bonhoeffer) books coming out from Baker in 2019: Freedom under the Word: Karl Barth’s Theological Exegesis. Edited by Ben Rhodes and Martin Westerholm. Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Theologians for a Post-Christian World. By Wolf Krötke. Translated by John P. Burgess. Freedom under the Word (May 2019) According to Baker:...

I need to finish this dissertation. To do so, I need to write regularly. For me, that means writing every day—a minimum of 500 words every day. Last spring, I did a pretty good job of writing regularly. However, I’ve fallen off the wagon for various reasons, and it’s been a bear to get back on! So, I’ve decided to put some money on the line, using a service called StickK....

Based upon my own reading of Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison [DBWE 8], here is my attempt at a summary list of the facets/aspects of Bonhoeffer’s view of “religion” in prison. Religion emphasizes inwardness. [DBWE 8:362, 364, 455–57] Religion emphasizes conscience. [DBWE 8:362] Religion is a temporary phenomenon. [DBWE 8:362, 364] Religion is manipulative and exploitative. [DBWE 8:363, 366, 426–27, 450, 455–57] Religion ignores human strength/knowledge/autonomy and instead focuses on human weakness, ignorance, and boundaries/limits/limitations....

Previously, I wrote about how the Scripture search tool in the Digital Karl Barth Library was broken. Thankfully, it appears to have been fixed (although it still has issues). This means I can search Barth’s “Collected Edition” (Gesamtausgabe) if needed. However, I’m now having some issues with the copy of Barth’s Church Dogmatics I purchased via Logos Bible Software. Before I complain, let me first say how grateful I am that Logos is MUCH more user-friendly than the Digital Karl Barth Library....