Karl Barth. A Theological Legacy

Written by Eberhard Jüngel Reviewed By John Webster

Eberhard Jüngel has by now established himself as one of the most important Protestant systematic theologians on the contemporary German scene. Much of his best work has taken the form of shorter, concentrated studies which develop his own thinking by commenting in detail upon the work of others. Aristotle, Hegel, Heidegger and Luther have been particular resources here, but above all it is the work of Barth which has marked Jüngel’s writing most clearly. He was himself a pupil of Barth, has been involved in editing Barth’s collected works, and since the early 1960s has published a steady stream of interpretative studies of Barth’s theology. In 1982 many of these studies were collected together as Barth-Studien; the present book is a translation of some of the material from that collection.

Along with a brief introduction and a tribute by Jüngel on the occasion of the memorial service for Barth following his death in 1968, there are four substantial essays here: ‘Barth’s Life and Work’, ‘Barth’s Theological Beginnings’, ‘Gospel and Law’, and ‘The Royal Man’. The first, an expanded version of an article in the Theologische Realenzyklopädie, offers an excellent survey of Barth’s biography and theological development. Jüngel’s close familiarity with Barth’s entire corpus of writing makes him ideally placed to attempt this sort of survey, without falling into either simplification or selectivity. The move from ‘dialectical theology’ to ‘dogmatic theology’ is very sharply described, and the structure of Barth’s magnum opus, the Church Dogmatics, set out with great clarity. The second essay, ‘Barth’s Theological Beginnings’, is an account of the earlier phase of Barth’s theological activity. Of particular interest is its account of Barth’s response to the historical-critical method, which sets Barth in the context of his teachers and peers (such as Bultmann) and offers much food for thought for those concerned to find appropriate ways of reading Scripture. The final two pieces are concerned with Barth’s theological anthropology, which has been an especial interest for Jüngel. ‘Gospel and Law’ contrasts Barth with Luther, arguing that the latter emphasizes human passivity whilst Barth is more ready to emphasize the human person as ethical agent, working in partnership with God as the Lord of the covenant. This essay is an important contribution to the study of Barth’s ethics, and shows how clearly Jüngel has perceived Barth’s dogmatic instincts. The final piece, ‘The Royal Man’, offers a commentary upon and appraisal of the relationship between Christology and anthropology in Barth.

These essays are not for the beginner, but for the reader who already has some acquaintance with the work of Barth, and preferably some familiarity with the technical language and concepts of dogmatic theology. Nor are they for one who is looking for a quarry of criticisms of Barth’s work. Jüngel is an enthusiastic interpreter, not so much uncritical as unimpressed by the shoddiness of many contemporary dismissals of Barth. The translation is readable and fluent: no easy task, since Jüngel’s prose is complex and nuanced. It is, perhaps, regrettable that the translation does not include some of Jüngel’s commentaries on Barth’s later work, especially on his doctrine of baptism. But for all that, the collection puts in the reader’s hands some of the best available writing on Barth. If that is a testimony to Jüngel’s own theological talents, it is no less a testimony to the continued vitality of Barth’s work, which, as Jüngel notes (p. 19) ‘demands to be read’. Evangelicals have held all sorts of opinions about Barth, frequently without having read him at length and in depth. This book is an invitation to read, learn, dispute and think hard in conversation with a theological giant.


John Webster

Wycliffe College, Toronto