3. True Religion (Post 2) As a historian of Christianity, I take particular pleasure in Barth's very clear acknowledge of the difficulty of teaching and writing about the history of Christianity: We must not allow ourselves to be confused by the fact that a history of Christianity can be written only as a story of … Continue reading I/2 §17 The Revelation of God as the Abolition of Religion

3. True Religion (Part 1) All the preceding content in §17 is preliminary to Barth's key statement: "we can speak of 'true' religion only in the sense in which we speak of a 'justified sinner.'" (I/2/325)  The balance of Barth's discussion of the revelation of God as the abolition of religion must be seen through this … Continue reading I/2 §17 The Revelation of God as the Abolition of Religion

2. Religion As Unbelief The theological evaluation of "religion" must proceed with great charity: it will take the human very seriously, but not the human apart from God per se: rather the human who is intended (whether he or she has heard or not) in the Word of God. It will not evaluate religion as … Continue reading I/2 §17 The Revelation of God as the Abolition of Religion

1. The Problem of Religion in Theology (conclusion) The extended note discussed previously really carries the intellectual burden of this chapter.  For the rest of the chapter, Barth puts the question of the reversal of revelation and religion in his present context, which was the rising Nazi state.  Everything else in this chapter --indeed in … Continue reading I/2 §17 The Revelation of God as the Abolition of Religion

1. The Problem of Religion in Theology (extended note, part 4) To recap: Barth has traced the concept "religion" from Thomas Aquinas on down to Johannes Franciscus Buddeus and Salomon van Til, "doughty" theologians who would not have welcomed the historical consequences of their own fateful reversal of revelation and religion, with the effect that … Continue reading I/2 §17 The Revelation of God as the Abolition of Religion

1. The Problem of Religion in Theology (extended note, part 3) To recap: Barth understands religion not as the problem of theology, but as a problem. He passionately argues against apprehending God's Word as the revelation of religion instead of (properly) the religion of revelation, which brings a word of grace and judgment on all … Continue reading I/2 §17 The Revelation of God as the Abolition of Religion

1. The Problem of Religion in Theology (extended note, part 2) Barth's extended note requires several blog entries; the previous blog entry explicated Barth's fundamental argument that liberal Protestant theology moved from proclaiming the religion of revelation to presenting the revelation of religion. Religion came to be regarded as the problem of theology rather than … Continue reading I/2 §17 The Revelation of God as the Abolition of Religion

1. The Problem of Religion in Theology (extended note, part 1) As I noted previously the question about the evaluation of "religion" in light of the revelation of God is  very important to the long-term viability of this reading project. I will devote several extended blog entries to it.  This is the first of four … Continue reading I/2 §17 The Revelation of God as the Abolition of Religion

1. The Problem of Religion in Theology Personal note: This section appears in this blog out of order (I was next intending to take up I/1/ §7, The Word of God, Dogma, and Dogmatics).  An explanation for this departure seems appropriate. In 2012 I became unwillingly involved in a particularly galling example of hypocrisy, one … Continue reading I/2 §17 The Revelation of God as the Abolition of Religion