Evangelical Theology: An Introduction

by Karl Barth

Paperback, 1964

Status

Available

Call number

230

Collection

Publication

Doubleday Anchor Books (1964), Paperback, 206 pages

Description

In this concise presentation of evangelical theology -- the theology that first received expression in the New Testament writings and was later rediscovered by the Reformation--Barth discusses the place of theology, theological existence, the threat to theology, and theological work.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Madcow299
An excellent introduction to Karl Barth. This book is from a series of lecture he gave at Chicago in the United States. It is his observation or review of what his theological work, along with his contemporaries, was all about. It is not an easy read, but it is very accessible for being written by
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someone who's first language is not English.

Barth talks about what theology should be, and how it should fit into the modern world that he lives in. It is great views of how he interacts with, others who came before him, worked with him, and are following him. Really a great read for any serious seminary student.
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LibraryThing member StephenBarkley
Here's my first encounter with Karl Barth: I was asked to present a three minute profile of the man to my class in Bible College. I went to the library's theological dictionary, thinking to find a one or two column profile I could regurgitate in class. It was then that I knew I was out of my
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league.

Since then I've always wanted to read him. He's touted (for good reason) as one of if not the most influential theologian of the twentieth century. Still, every time I think about buying his Church Dogmatics, I get a nervous flutter in my stomach. 9,000 pages is a serious commitment. Enter: Evangelical Theology.

Near the end of his career, Karl Barth toured the United States and offered a series of seventeen lectures on what constitutes true Evangelical Theology. This book is the text of those lectures. It provided me with a good grasp of the way he thinks without having to wade through the details of theological battles fought in the mid-1900s.

Barth is everything I hoped he would be. His passion shines through on every page. His writing is full of pithy quotable sentences worth spending time thinking about. Most of all, he views theology as a high calling—an important science.

For years I've encouraged anyone entering theological study to read Hulmut Thielike's A Little Exercise for Young Theologians. I now have two books to recommend.
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LibraryThing member jimocracy
First and foremost, this was incredibly boring. I was expecting a very straightforward explanation of theology for evangelicals and I got a lot of redundant, unfounded theorizing. From a literary perspective, I did not appreciate the personification of theology (as if "theology" could think or plan
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or feel anything). It was almost insulting.

Also, (and I realize the author was discussing evangelical Christian theology, specifically) the insistence that there is a god and the Bible is His Holy word is rather presumptuous. Anytime, anyone says "God thinks this" or "God says that" or "God is not bound by..." they are talking out of their rear ends (I'll try to keep this PG).

The part about doubt was interesting because the author tried to simultaneously renounce doubt as a negative force that can lead you astray (so much for skepticism) but also acknowledge that everybody has doubts. I suppose if more theologians did adhere to skeptical inquiry, they would abandon religion and theology and gods (and that frightened the author).

I did admire that the author seemed to be saying that a theologian shouldn't blindly adhere to tradition but should let the "evidence" take them where it leads them. However, that is a little disingenuous considering, he also considers the Bible to be the primary source of evidence (with no justification).

Finally, it was amusing to see how the author used faith as his convenient little dodge. Asserting that only someone with sufficient faith can interpret an accurate theology is very convenient. If someone attempts to theologize and comes up with stuff you don't like, you can just say that they lacked the faith necessary to understand "God's word". That is a total cop out and a blatant logical fallacy (something akin to the "no true Scotsman" fallacy).
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LibraryThing member T.E.I.
Translation of the first five lectures delivered under the auspices of the Divinity School, University of Chicago. Part of "The Annie Kinkead Warfield Lectures of 1962" at the Princeton Theological Seminary.
LibraryThing member T.E.I.
Translation of the first five lectures delivered under the auspices of the Divinity School, University of Chicago. Part of "The Annie Kinkead Warfield Lectures of 1962" at the Princeton Theological Seminary.

Awards

Language

Original language

German

Original publication date

1963

ISBN

none
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