''The Epistle to the Romans'' (german: Der Römerbrief) is a commentary by the Swiss theologian
Karl Barth
Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Calvinist theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declar ...
on the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...
Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that salvation is offered through the gospel of Jes ...
.
Disillusioned with both German Protestant Liberalism and Religious Socialism after the outbreak of the
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
in 1914, Barth decided in the summer of 1916 to write a commentary on Paul's Epistle to the Romans as a way of rethinking his theological inheritance. Barth was a pastor in
Safenwil at the time. Protestant Liberal theology had played a significant role in the rise of German nationalism prior to World War I, leading to Barth's disillusionment and attempts to restructure Protestant theology. The first edition of the commentary was published in December 1918 (but with a publication date of 1919). It was the first edition of the work, which earned Barth his invitation to teach at the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
and which
Karl Adam said fell "like a bombshell on the theologians' playground." In October 1920 Barth decided that he needed to revise the first edition and worked for the next eleven months on rewriting the commentary, finishing around September 1921. The second edition was published in 1922 and translated into English in 1933.
This work, like many of his others, emphasizes the saving grace of God and humanity's inability to know God outside of God's revelation in Christ. Specifically, the God who is revealed in the cross of Jesus challenges and overthrows any attempt to ally God with human cultures, achievements, or possessions. While famous for its use of
dialectic
Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...
, some scholars have argued that Barth makes extensive use of
analogy
Analogy (from Greek ''analogia'', "proportion", from ''ana-'' "upon, according to" lso "against", "anew"+ ''logos'' "ratio" lso "word, speech, reckoning" is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject ...
in the work as well.
[Ingrid Spieckermann, ''Gotteserkenntnis: Ein Beitrag zur Grundfrage der neuen Theologie Karl Barths'', München: Kaiser, 1985. 129–31; Oakes, ''Reading Karl Barth'', pp. 21–22.]
References
Bibliography
*Michael Beintker, ''Die Dialektik in der »dialektischen Theologie« Karl Barths: Studien zur Entwicklung der Barthschen Theologie und zur Vorgeschichte der »Kirchlichen Dogmatik «''. München: Kaiser, 1987.
*J. McConnachie, "The Teaching of Karl Barth," ''Hibbert Journal'' 25 (1926-1927).
*Kenneth Oakes, ''Reading Karl Barth: A Companion to the Epistle to the Romans''. Eugene: Cascade, 2011.
*Ingrid Spieckermann, ''Gotteserkenntnis: Ein Beitrag zur Grundfrage der neuen Theologie Karl Barths''. München: Kaiser, 1985.
1922 non-fiction books
Karl Barth
Biblical commentaries
Epistle to the Romans
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