by Brian Williams
My basic endeavor is to trace the lines of connection between Barth’s dogmatic theology and his political theology and... more
My basic endeavor is to trace the lines of connection between Barth’s dogmatic theology and his political theology and activity. For instance, I have tried to show the connections between his democratic socialism and his theological anthropology, between his thoughts on force and his doctrine of creation, sin and evil as das Nichtige, as well as the relation of his doctrine of the ascension and his understanding of church / state relations. In addition, I try throughout to briefly explain how Barth’s thought borrows from or differs from Augustine, Calvin, Luther, and the Anabaptist traditions, etc. I also try to win some ground for Barth’s method for moving from theology to politics, or at least I try to demonstrate that it wasn’t as opaque and obscure as most suggest.
Chapter 1, “Barth’s Actualistic Ontology as a Prelude to Politics, ” reviews criticism of Barth's political theology and ethics, and explains his actualistic ontology as the necessary background for understanding his own consistent participation in political affairs.
Chapter 2, “Barth’s Political Biography,” narrates his heavy political involvement over the years, from his days as the “red pastor” of Safenwil to his lectures on Calvin, to WW2, to his Cold War opposition to both East and West. It is interesting in its own right, it provides one concrete model of Christian attentiveness to political affairs, it establishes some credibility for Barth to speak about political things, and it confirms and illustrates his actualistic ontology.
Chapter 3, “The Theology of Christological Co-Humanity,” turns to “below” and compares Barth’s christocentric theological anthropology of co-humanity with the atomistic anthropology of the politically influential philosophies of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Nietzsche, each of whom, including Barth, move from anthropology to political structures and ethics –– a novel move in the history of political philosophy.
Chapter 4, “The Politics of Christological Co-Humanity,” shows how his theological anthropology informed various aspects of his social and political thought and action. In particular, I show how co-humanity as an organizing political principle leads Barth to, or supports Barth’s previous decision for, democratic socialism and social justice. Thus he attempts to derive a principle of civil organization from his christocentric ecclesial anthropology.
Chapter 5, “God, the Powers, and the Political Authorities,” turns to “above,” and considers how Barth’s theology of creation, the spiritual powers, and das Nichtige informed his understanding of the telos of the state as a post-lapsarian and remedial sign of God’s grace in the world that uses threat and force.
Chapter 6, “Barth’s Gelasian Parallel,” explores Barth’s understanding of the (non-political) ascension, as well as institutional “church-state” relations, the “religiously neutral” state, his use of the term “state” when he seems to mean something like “polis,” and his minimalist and christocentric version of something like “natural law” (or “faithless reason”) that, sometimes effectively and eloquently, guides those outside of the church.
Chapter 7, finally, attempts to draw out some of the strengths and weaknesses of Barth’s political theology and ethics not already mentioned, and to suggest how his thought might continue to direct and inform the church’s attempt(s) to address socio-political questions today.
Besides the Dogmatics, and his two or three major writings on political matters, I draw in material from his letters, interviews, recorded discussions, pamphlets, and other smaller essays and addresses, all in order to fill out his political theology and ethics.
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