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By Scott Allan Butler B.A.Th., Rocky Mountain College, 2005 Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Theology, Acadia Divinity College

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By Scott Allan Butler B.A.Th., Rocky Mountain College, 2005 Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Theology, Acadia Divinity College KARL BARTH’S KENOTIC DOGMATICS by Scott Allan Butler B.A.Th., Rocky Mountain College, 2005 Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Theology, Acadia Divinity College, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Theology) Acadia Divinity College, Acadia University Spring Convocation 2015 © by SCOTT ALLAN BUTLER, 2015 This thesis by SCOTT ALLAN BUTLER was defended successfully in an oral examination on 8 April 2015. The examining committee for the thesis was: Dr. Anna Robbins, Chair Dr. John Webster, External Examiner Dr. Glenn Wooden, Internal Examiner Dr. William H. Brackney, Supervisor Dr. Craig A. Evans, MA Director This thesis is accepted in its present form by Acadia Divinity College, the Faculty of Theology of Acadia University, as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Theology). ii I, SCOTT ALLAN BUTLER, hereby grant permission to the University Librarian at Acadia University to provide copies of my thesis, upon request, on a non-profit basis. Scott A. Butler Author Dr. William H. Brackney Supervisor 8 April 2015 Date iii Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... vii Introduction ........................................................................................................................1 Chapter One: Historical Sketch .......................................................................................4 Karl Barth the Youth ................................................................................................6 The Barths of Berne ..............................................................................................6 From Huber to Herrmann by way of Aeschbacher ...............................................9 Karl Barth the Pastor: From Marburg to Aarau by Way of Kaiser Wilhelm ........24 The Pastorate in Safenwil ...................................................................................24 Publication of the Commentary on Romans .......................................................30 Karl Barth the Professor: From Dialectic to Dogmatic by way of St. Anselm .....33 The Dialectical School ......................................................................................33 The Foundation of Dogmatics ...........................................................................40 Karl Barth the Activist ...........................................................................................46 The Difficult Thirties .........................................................................................46 A Testing Ground ..............................................................................................48 Summary ................................................................................................................50 Chapter Two: Dogmatic Method ....................................................................................52 The Departure from Liberalism as a Human-Centered Endeavor ........................54 Philosophy of Eighteenth-Century, ‘Modern’ Man ..........................................54 Immanuel Kant ..................................................................................................59 Friedrich Schleiermacher ..................................................................................65 iv The End(s) of Modernist-liberal Theology: Feuerbach and National Socialism ... 72 Reestablishing the Priority of God in Dogmatic Theology ....................................74 Barth’s Discovery of Anselm as His ‘Vital Key’ ..............................................74 Barth’s Interpretation of Anselm as a Key to Dogmatics .................................78 Towards Barth’s Dogmatic Task and Method ..................................................86 Summary ................................................................................................................92 Chapter Three: Kenotic Christ .......................................................................................94 Act ..........................................................................................................................97 Jesus As the Unveiling of God ..........................................................................97 God With Us as God For Us ...........................................................................104 The Revelation of Humanity ...........................................................................112 Perfect Covenant Partnership ..........................................................................117 Disposition ...........................................................................................................120 A Life of Obedience: From Desert to Garden .................................................121 Obedient Servant as Lord ................................................................................125 Lowliness Proper to God’s Nature ..................................................................128 Summary: The Kenotic Christ as Exemplar of Dogmatic Method .................136 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................140 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................144 v Abstract Swiss theologian Karl Barth played a key role in the development of Protestant Christian theology in the twentieth century. This purpose of this thesis is to investigate the links between Christology and method in Barth’s dogmatics. It examines the theologian from an historical perspective in his transition from the liberal Christian tradition through his dialectical period and into his substantial prolegomena to the Church Dogmatics. Paying special attention to Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Schleiermacher, and Ludwig Feuerbach, the second chapter contrasts Barth’s dogmatic method as based in faith and prayer with the anthropocentric principles of the Enlightenment. The final chapter gives shape to the Swiss theologian’s integrated doctrines of revelation and reconciliation by looking at God’s acts and disposition in Christ. In it I argue that dogmatics is Christological specifically as it reflects the content and character of the kenotic – obedient servant – Christ. I suggest, finally, that Barth’s kenotic Christ correlates with the prohibitive name he found in Anselm’s Proslogion: ‘that beyond which no greater thing can be conceived.’ vi Acknowledgments I would like to express my deep gratitude for the constant support and encouragement of my wife, Jane, without whom this project would have remained the impossible possibility. I am deeply indebted to my mother and father who devoted significant resources getting me started in a discipline that rarely returns those kinds of resources. My thanks extend also to my mother and father-in-law who offered their support and specifically in the gift of my very own Church Dogmatics set. Not only did they get this project off the ground but by the same means saved me an enormous amount in the cost of erasers alone. Thank you Drs. MacRae, Wooden, Wilson, and Ramm for four very key instances of encouragement that you didn’t know were helping me get past my obstacles. Thank you, finally, to Dr. Brackney for access to opportunities, people, finances, and thinking without which I would have remained a ‘poor mule in the fog.’ vii Is est ergo cogito viii 1 INTRODUCTION Karl Barth has come to be known through the nexus of strong positions, influential roles, theological controversies, and poignant phraseology that punctuated his long career. Often hailed as a modern Church Father, the Swiss theologian is credited by some as having single-handedly dismantled the liberal Protestant movement. Perhaps as frequently criticized as lauded, Barths theology is characterized by conflicting notions and notable conflicts; he is famous both for his paradoxical characterization of sin as the impossible possibility and his paralyzing and schismatic Nein! to long-time ally Emil Brunner in 1934. As a child, Karl played-acted pope and emperor. As an adult, he held his own with both. In terms of both personality and production the Swiss theologian deserves to be described as nothing less than a juggernaut. It is somewhat surprising, then, that in 1966 when controversial death of God theologian William Hamilton (1924-2012)1 was looking for a way to make Christianity relevant and enticing, he took hold of Karl Barths vision of Christ which insists over and over that we must allow Jesus lowliness and humiliation to determine what we mean by God.2 Barths Christology, often overshadowed in popular circles by his position on scripture and natural reason, is the centerpiece of Church Dogmatics. Though immense in scope, Barths doctrine of reconciliation is built on the foundational concept that Jesus Christ is Lord as Servant. 1. See Lloyd Steffen, “The Dangerous God: A Profile of William Hamilton,” Christian Century 106, no. 27 (September 1989): 844-847. 2. William Hamilton, The New Essence of Christianity (New York: Association Press, 1966), 96; emphasis added. 2 What connection exists between the theological method Karl Barth adopted and the content of his Christology? On the eve of Barths debut volume of what would become the monumental
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