The T & T Clark Blog

Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics: An Introduction and Reader

I have just received an advance copy of R. Michael Allen’s new book – Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics: An Introduction and Reader.

As always, we have received very interesting endorsements:

‘Embarking on the study of Barth’s Church Dogmatics is no easy matter; this careful selection, with its perceptive introduction and commentaries, is an excellent guide to exploring one of the monumental texts of modern theology.’ – John Webster, University of Aberdeen, UK

‘This volume is a welcome resource for both teachers and students of Karl Barth's theology. Michael Allen's well-chosen excerpts from the Church Dogmatics are lengthy enough to provide a feel for Barth's sprawling theological discourse and wide-ranging enough to provide an appreciation of the full scope of his dogmatic thought. The introduction and notes locate Barth's work within the context of classical and modern divinity and direct readers to the best English-language literature on the Basel theologian. Those who have heretofore feared the prospect of exploring Karl Barth's massive Church Dogmatics may now take courage thanks to Allen's able guidance.’ – Scott R. Swain, Reformed Theological Seminary, USA

‘This is a judiciously selected and carefully introduced series of key readings from the Church Dogmatics. Allen has done the newcomer to Barth a great service by preparing this collection of texts from what remains the most important work in theology of recent times. This volume is a fine resource both for inspiring readers to venture further into Barth's work for themselves and for encouraging students to engage appreciatively and critically with its content.’ – Paul T. Nimmo, The University of Edinburgh, UK

The book will be available in the UK in the middle of March and the readers based in the US can purchase a copy in May 2012.

Tom Greggs on Motifs in Religionlessness

Tom Greggs' forthcoming 'Theology against Religion' is clearly the most exciting theology manuscript I have read in a long time. Tom looks at the critique of 'religion' as found in Barth and Bonhoeffer. After a careful analysis of their work he identifies ten central motifs in religionlessness which he then uses to develop a vision for theology and indeed the church of the future. How should theology look like, how should the church look like in a time when Christianity as religion is a thing of the past?

 

To whet your appetites, read the concluding section of chapter four below. The book will publish in October in the UK (US: December). The cover on the left is a draft design.

 

Motifs in Religionlessnes (Tom Greggs)

A theology which takes the critique of religion seriously will in the first instance be (1) radically christocentric. In seeking to understand who God is, it will necessarily look to Jesus Christ, and seek to learn from Him. In doing this, such a theology will seek to affirm the humanity of God rather than any perceived innate divinity in humans. It will be a theology that realizes that the veil is truly rent, and God is most visibly seen, in the dead human corpse of the human who died for other humans, hanging on a cross. Jesus Christ, as one who stood in opposition to religious authorities and rulers, as the one who was never a member of a priestly class and never created a priestly class, and as the one in whom there is no longer any distance between God and humanity, will be the governing rule of a theology which takes the critique of religion seriously. Revelation will be understood not simply as a ‘thing’ in relation to Him, but as the act and event of God by which He is known to individuals and communities by the power of the Spirit.

T&T Clark at the CTSA and ATLA conferences

June has arrived and our New York office is busy busy preparing for two conferences later this week: the Catholic Theological Society of America and the American Theological Library Association.

You'll find me (hopefully all smiles due to that California weather!) selling three tables worth of books at the CTSA meeting in San Jose, CA, June 9-11. We're offering 35% off all books and will have new and recent titles such as The Ratzinger Reader and Newman and His Contemporaries. If you have a book proposal, stop by and chat and leave it with me, and I'll pass it along to our acquisitions editor after the show.

Kim Petit will be our rep at the ATLA meeting in Chicago, IL, June 9-10. There will be a good selection for librarians to browse and some great deals on books, such as our Church Dogmatics 31 volume set.

Hope to see you there!

Kara Zavada
US Religion Marketing Manager

Church Dogmatics: All Individual Volumes Now Out!

Good news on the Church Dogmatics front! All thirty volumes of the new Study Edition are now avialable individually. Each volume now carries an index of Scripture References, Names and Subjects, newly created for this edition.You can find the individual volumes here.

If you have bought the 31 vol set, you will get free access to the pdf versions of the individual indexes, which will upload shortly on our Church Dogmatics resources website. To get you password please register here or send back the card which was inserted in your 31 vol set.

The Doctrine of the Word of God
Vol 1§1-7 The Word of God as the Criterion of Dogmatics
Vol 2§8-12 The Revelation of God: The Triune God
Vol 3 §13-15 The Revelation of God: The Incarnation of the Word
Vol 4 §16-18 The Revelation of God: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Vol 5§ 19-21 Holy Scripture
Vol 6 §22-24 The Proclamation of the Church

The Doctrine of God
Vol 7 §25-27 The Knowledge of God
Vol 8 §28-30 The Reality of God I
Vol 9 §31 The Reality of God II
Vol 10 §32-33 The Election of God I
Vol 11 §34-35 The Election of God II
Vol 12 §36-39 The Command of God

The Doctrine of Creation
Vol 13 §40-42 The Work of Creation
Vol 14 §43-44 The Creature I
Vol 15 §45-46 The Creature II
Vol 16 §47 The Creature III
Vol 17 §48-49 The Creator and His Creature I
Vol 18 §50-51 The Creator and His Creature II
Vol 19 §52-54 The Command of God the Creator I
Vol 20 §55-56 The Command of God the Creator II

The Doctrine of Reconciliation
Vol 21 §57-59 The Subject-Matter and Problems of the Doctrine of Reconciliation. Jesus Christ, the Lord as Servant I
Vol 22 §60 Jesus Christ, the Lord as Servant II 
Vol 23 §61-63 Jesus Christ, the Lord as Servant III
Vol 24 §64 Jesus Christ, the Servant as Lord I
Vol 25 §65-66 Jesus Christ, the Servant as Lord II
Vol 26 §67-68 Jesus Christ, the Servant as Lord III
Vol 27 §69 Jesus Christ, the True Witness I
Vol 28 §70-71 Jesus Christ, the True Witness II
Vol 29 §72-73 Jesus Christ, the True Witness III

Vol 30 The Christian Life (Fragment), The Doctrine of Baptism 

The new, combined General Index (vol. 31) is in preparation for fall 2010.

Finding Barth in Berlin

As you know from previous posts I spent a good part of last week in Berlin at the SNTS Conference. It was held at the Humboldt Universität in central Berlin, one of the most beautiful and stunning urban enviromnets you can possibly think of. While there I popped over to the faculty of theology which was only a stone's throw away. I wanted to check something in a book I could not get hold of in London, so I tried the library there (quite an experience as the librarian is kind of a character...). However, when I crossed the atrium I noticed a student sitting outside reading the Kirchliche Dogmatik by Barth. I was even more surprised when I then noticed from inside that he was also smoking a pipe and wearing a hat. O blessed imitatio! Keep it up! And yes: READ MORE BARTH!  

New issue of Princeton Theological Review online!

The latest issue of the Princeton Theological Review is now available online. I carries among other stuff a review of Michael Allen's The Christ's Faith by Evan Kuehn. You can find it in the pdf on page 97-98. Enjoy!  

"Allen’s contribution to the question of Christ’s faith is both richly substantive and far-reaching. The thesis is carefully executed. Apart from merely arguing for a certain position, Allen recognizes the obstacles and concerns blocking an embrace of the human faith of Christ by Reformed theologians, and he seeks to allay these concerns through appeal to Scripture and ecumenical dialogue between Thomist and Reformed traditions. In this goal he is impressively successful. Even those personally unconvinced of the human faith of Christ will find a compelling account of the receptiveness of Reformed and Chalcedonian dogmatic commitments to such an affirmation."

Online reviews in Systematic Theology

News have reached us about two online reviews:

The Centre for Barth Studies have put a review on of Paul Dafydd Jones' "The Humanity of Christ" by Darren O Sumner.

"The Humanity of Christ supplies the field of contemporary Barth scholarship with one of its most significant works of the twenty-first century so far through a thorough examination of a major locus in Barth’s theology. Originating as a doctoral dissertation at Harvard University and recently honored with the Templeton Award, Paul Dafydd Jones’ book examines Christology diachronically through the Church Dogmatics. As the title suggests, at issue for Jones – associate professor at the University of Virginia’s Department of Religious Studies – is Barth’s robust account of the humanity of Jesus Christ, in opposition to the common charge “that Barth’s strong affirmation of Christ’s divinity makes for an enfeebled account of Christ’s humanity” (3). Meticulously researched and organized, the work synthesizes much of the Dogmatics, offering summaries and insightful analysis of Barth’s theology."

You can read the full review here.

The other review is from Themelios for a volume in our T&T Studies in Systematic Theology: Reading the Decree by David Gibson.

"This is a fine book that deserves a wide reading from students of Calvin, Barth, and the Reformed tradition, as well as all those interested in the doctrines of Christ and election. Gibson shows familiarity with the works of Calvin (both commentaries and the Institutes) and Barth as well as the vast secondary literature; he also sees the limits in many scholarly tendencies (e.g., the tendency to see primarily philosophical grounds for both Calvin’s and Barth’s doctrine of election). Above all, he shows acuity in tracing the underappreciated influence of exegesis upon two master theologians. One can only hope that many will follow Gibson’s example in showing the way in which biblical exegesis has shaped dogmatic reasoning on various topics within the Christian tradition, and we might pray that many more will be inspired to imitate this biblical pursuit."

You can read the full review here.

Church Dogmatics Study Edition in individual volumes

We had quite a few enquiries about the publication of the individual volumes of our new Church Dogmatics Study Edition.

You will be pleased to hear that these will be available in paperback from July in the United States and from September in the UK, both in time for the new academic year.

The volumes will be identical with the ones in the box set published last year. They will all carry full translations of the Hebrew, Greek and Latin passages into English. Each volume will in addition also carry its own index of names, subjects and biblical references.

The price of the volumes will be GBP19,95 in the UK and $34,95 in the US.

  

Templeton Award for Paul Dafydd Jones

This year's winners of the Templeton Award for Theological Promise have been announced. We are very happy and proud that again among them is one of our authors: Paul Dafydd Jones was awarded the prize for his book The Humanity of Christ. Congratulations!

This is what the jury writes about the book:
The  monograph offers offers a fresh reading of Karl Barth's mature Christology. Engaging the entirety of the Church Dogmatics, the book considers Barth's doctrine of election, with particular attention paid to the Son's "being in becoming" as an event of divine self-determination; uncovers a rich understanding of Christ's human being and acting as a history of wholeheartedness, sovereignty, love, and deliverance; and advances a bold analysis of Christ's atoning death, focusing particularly on Christ's decision to bear God's rejection of sin. The conclusion of the book reflects on the significance of Barth's work for Christian thought, spirituality and ethics in the present day.

More information and a list of all winners is here.

Last year, another T&T Clark author was among those winning the award: Paul T. Nimmo for his book Being in Action

Geoffrey Bromiley 1915-2009

We have learned with great sadness that Goeffrey Bromiley has passed away on August 7th.

Bromiley was not only a renowned church historian and historical theologian, he significantly influenced English-language Christianity over the past six decades, translating and editing—from several original languages—thousands upon thousands of pages of theological works from such notables as Karl Barth, Jacques Ellul, Helmut Thielicke, and others.

Among his many translations widely used by English-language readers are the 10-volumes of the Theologisches Wörterbuch des Neuetn Testaments (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament), edited by Gerhard Kittel; Wolfhart Pannenberg's three-volume Systematische Theology (Systematic Theology); and the Kommentar zum Römerbrief (Commentary on Romans) by Ernst Käsemann.

Geoffrey Bromiley, together with N. T. Torrance made an immesuarable contribution to the work of T&T Clark by his translating and editing of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics, a work still used, loved and studied by many scholars world wide. 

You can find an obituary on the Fuller website here. 

Ben Myers has a piece here. 

Geoffey Bromiley's translation of the Church Dogmatics has just been published in a new Study Edition. Two of his other books are still in print with T&T Clark: Historical Theology: An Introduction and Introduction to the Theology of Karl Barth.