Karl Barth. Paul S. Chung

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Karl Barth - Paul S. Chung


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its time only insofar as it is a child of its time. But in light of the work of Karl Barth this should not even be an issue.35

      Jüngel’s entire essay on “Barth’s Theological Beginnings” is, by and large, a rejoinder to Marquardt’s profound but controversial book Theologie und Sozialismus: Das Beispiel Karl Barths (1974). Marquardt’s fundamental thesis is that Barth’s theology can be understood by way of the correlative interaction between theology and democratic socialistic praxis. In Marquardt’s view, Barth’s concept of God should be interpreted by way of his social experiences. By contrast, Jüngel’s fundamental thesis is that the political is surely a predicate of theology, not the other way around. This remark is essentially correct. His insistence that Barth thoroughly depoliticized the concept of revolution in Romans II is directed against Marquardt’s position. However, Marquardt’s intent is not to make theology a mere predicate of the political, as Jüngel suspects.

      Dialectical Theology and Neo-Orthodox Theology

      However, on closer examination of the social and political situation in which Barth’s theology emerged, we must not direct our attention from the fact that his theology was always bound to situational and political spheres. Barth’s theology is always time-bound and up-to date rather than timeless and nonpolitical. When we look at the genesis and development of Barth’s theology during his pastoral work in Safenwil, his dialectical theology was expressed and articulated in a highly contextual way with respect to World War I, religious socialism, the October Revolution in Russia, and the general strike in Switzerland. In addition, Barth’s theology of analogy, which can first be seen explicitly in his Tambach lecture and then in Romans II, demonstrate the political relevance of God, society, and human beings from the start.

      Karl Barth and Theologia Naturalis

      In speaking of a neo-orthodox interpretation of Barth, we need to mention Karl Barth’s critique of theologia naturalis. An attempt to relate Barth to theologia naturalis or analogia entis would be complicated, even a conundrum. It was Barth himself who was strongly resistant to such metaphysical discourse for the sake of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Jesus Christ. However, in the process of breaking new ground in Barth’s development, Balthasar perceived that an old doctrine of extra-Cavinisticum provides a basis for Barth to preserve and integrate natural theology in his christological inclusivism.


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