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Karl Barth's Social Philosophy, 1918 -1933 KARL BARTH'S SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY, 1918 -1933 Peter John Holmes Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Divinity University of Glasgow June 2001 The enterprise of theological ethics is not one with which to trifle. It must be taken up properly - and this can mean only on the assumption that the command of the grace of God is its sole content - or it is better left alone. ' Karl Barth, Chin-ch Dogmatics 11/2p. 533. ii ABSTRACT This thesis is a contribution to the contemporary reassessment of Karl Barth's social philosophy. A close reading of the English translation of the text of a series of posthumously published lectures on ethics which Barth gave in the universities of Münster and Bonn between 1929 and 1933 is the basis of the work. Previous literature includes no discussion of the lectures. The thesis argues that the lectures show the foundation of Barth's thinking both of theology as a science and of ethics as a part of dogmatics, and that his subsequent work developed these ideas. Barth's intellectual debt to Hegel is recognised by showing that he returns to the fundamental theological questions of the relationship between faith and reason, and truth and method in the form in which Hegel discussed them at the end of the nineteenth century. The thesis acknowledges the influence of Barth's helper, Charlotte von Kirschbaum, and contrary to other opinions claims that the impact of Wilhelm Herrmann's thinking on Barth remained until 1933. Although principally about material from the period 1918 to 1933, later work by Barth is included in the study to give evidence for the proposals that his ethical thinking helped shape his dogmatics, and that his later ethics show development, not stages and breaks. A discussion of criticisms of his ethics highlights the problem of choosing a method of enquiry that is appropriate to the object studied. A dialogue with two other ethical projects helps focus attention on his insistence on a proper foundation for Christian social ethics. The thesis argues that Barth's work is a theological ethic, because his social philosophy gives a method for asking appropriate 111 questions and creates a way of considering these questions from a Christian perspective. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is with gratitude that I acknowledge the generosity of my supervisor, the Revd Professor George Newlands. His guidance, scholarship and cheerfulness have been an inspiration and a model. I also wish to thank the priests and congregation of St.Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow for their prayers and fellowship. V CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 The structure of the thesis 5 Chapter 2A reassessment of Karl Barth's moral theology 33 Chapter 3 The Münster and Bonn Ethics 40 3.1 Influences 64 3.1.1 Charlotte von Kirschbaum 65 3.1.2 Wilhelm Herrmann 68 3.2 The Münster and Bonn Ethics 75 Chapter 4 The Christian Life 120 Chapter 5 Church Dogmatics 111/4,116/59 143 5.1 Freedom in Fellowship 143 Chapter 6 Community, State, and Church 155 6.1 Gospeland Law 155 6.2 Church and State 164 6.3 The Christian Community and the Civil Community 173 Chapter 7 Critical readings of Karl Barth's ethics 181 7.1 Cornelius van Til 182 7.2 Norman H. G. Robinson 218 7.3 Robert E. Willis 224 7.4 Alternative Ethical Projects 242 7.4.1 Donald Shriver 243 7.4.2 Miroslav Volf 257 Chapter 8 Conclusion 265 Bibliography 279 Chapter 1 Introduction This thesis is a contribution to the contemporary Anglo-Saxon reappraisal of Karl Barth's ethics. The main task of the study is a reassessmentof Barth's Christian social ethics written between 1918 and 1933. There are two reasons why it is an appropriate time for such an undertaking: firstly, the recent interest in Barth's ethics by the scholars Nigel Biggar, John Webster, and, in part, Bruce McCormack; secondly, the publication of material on ethics written by Barth, which was previously unavailable. ' The study examines newly published material by Barth on ethics. Primary consideration is given to the series of lectures on ethics given by him at the universities of Münster and Bonn in 1928 and 1930. To inform the reading of this material there is a discussion of the influences on him during this period. New material is discussed on Charlotte von Kirschbaum, Wilhelm Herrmann and Cornelius van Til. The work of Herrmann, Barth's teacher at Marburg, is discussed at length not only because of its importance as one of the main foundations of Barth's thought, but also because of its continuing influence on some of Barth's critics. Additional material from his writings after 1933, from Church Dogmatics and the three essays published in Community, State and Church are used to illustrate two points: firstly, to show his ethics developing, and secondly, that social ethics were a primary concern of ' Nigel Biggar, The Hastening that Mails, (Oxford: Clarendon, 1993) John Webster, Barth's Ethics of Reconciliation, (Cambridge: CUP, 1995) John Webster, Barth's Moral Theology: Human Action in Barth's Thought, (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998) Bruce McCormack, Kail Barth's Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology: Its Genesis and Development, (Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1997) 2 his throughout his life. Barth's intellectual debt to Hegel receives particular attention. An awareness of the tradition in which Barth was working informs the reading of his critics. Focusing on points of methodological disagreement shows the importance both that the form is appropriate to the object of study, and of the primacy of the spoken word in the tradition. The weakness and fragility of the study of Christian doctrine in English theology, within both universities and the church are recognised as causes of hostility to Barth's thought in England. There is a discussion of the criticisms of Barth's ethics. The work of van Til receives exacting consideration and detailed treatment. There are two reasons why van Til's disapproval receives lengthy consideration: firstly, because there is no previous discussion of van Til's work and secondly, because of its continuing influence. The thesis calls for the recognition of von Kirschbaum's influence on Barth's theology. Scholars have overlooked, and even disregarded her contribution to Barth's theological ethics. A proper estimate is made of her involvement in the development of Barth's ethical writings, particularly the significance of her participation in the decision not to publish the Münster ethics in his lifetime. The thesis discusses the meanings given by Barth to the concepts of knowledge, experience and determination. Concepts of knowledge, as used by him, are often different to the way such concepts are commonly understood in Anglo-American theological and philosophical discourse. A long history of suspicion of German theology, in many English theologians, is the background to the misreading and misunderstanding of his dogmatics. In the Birbeck, lectures delivered in the University of Cambridge in 1947 on `The Righteousness of God, Luther Studies', Gordon Rupp made the following comment: The virile theological tradition deriving from the Oxford movement has made great and positive theological contributions to English religion, but from the tim- of Hurrell Froude onwards its blind spot has been a rigid, narrow and wooden hostility towards the Reformers and their works. 2 Colin Gunton points out that English systematic theology suffered much damage during the nineteenth century, from the hostile attitude of some nationalistic Tractarians, notably Edward Bouverie Pusey. They questioned, with alarm, the influence of Hegel and Schleiermacher on the development of German theology. Gunton says, that as a result: A breach between different European traditions was opened, and this has meant that English systematic theology, never very strong, has suffered injuries from which it has not yet recovered. He goes on to say: The form of English systematic theology arises from an essentially fear thought.. happens is that nationalistic of continental . what nationalistic isolation tends to institutionalise, so to speak, the typical problems, just as incest can inbreed genetic ones. Strengths, uncriticised, become weaknesses, while weaknesses are magnified. English theology tends to reflect the weakness of English thought in general: a suspicion of intellectuals of all kinds, allied to a tendency to naturalism and moralism. Daniel Hardy has observed that these are the reasons why English theology has found it so hard to come to terms with the theology of both Schleiermacher and Barth. ' They seem to say things that it is simply not possible to say. Because of inbred tendencies the English simply fail to understand what these seminal thinkers are doing. ' 2 Gordon Rupp, The Righteousness of God, Luther Studies, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1953) p. 4. 3 Colin Gunton, `An English Systematic Theology? ' in the Scottish Journal of Theology 46 (1993) pp. 479-96. 4 Daniel Hardy, `The English Tradition of Interpretation and the Reception of Schleiermacher and Barth in England', in Barth and Schleiermacher. Beyond the Impasse, ed. by J.Duke and R. Streetman, (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988) 5 Gunton, `An English Systematic Theology? ' p. 492. 4 Anglo-American scholars have received Barth's Church Dogmatics with a lack of comnrehension and his ethics with hostility. 6 It is part of the task of this study to contribute to the current reassessment of his ethics avoiding misreading and misunderstandings. Gunton was writing specifically about the situation in England in an article mainly criticising the Anglo-Catholic section of the Church of England. In Scotland, the situation is very different. There is a long tradition of the study of German language, culture and theology by Scottish theologians.
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