Karl Barth and the Pietists
The Young Karl Barth’s Critique of Pietism & Its Response
Translated by Daniel W. Bloesch
Foreword by Donald W. Dayton
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
352 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 x 0.70 in
- Paperback
- 9781498299756
- Published: June 2016
$47.00 / £41.00 / AU$65.00
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Known for his acclaimed biography--Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts--Eberhard Busch subsequently wrote Karl Barth und die Pietism, a book on Barth's relationship to Pietism. Now translated into English, this exchange illuminates and puts into perspective the development of themes found throughout Barth's theological works such as the nature of scriptural authority, hell and universalism, the relationship between believers and unbelievers, the place of our experience in salvation, the preaching of repentance, the nature of conversion, and the relationship between law and gospel.
Both Barth's affinity to Pietism and his critique of the movement shed light on his interaction with the English-speaking evangelical world, whose theology was significantly shaped by the Pietist movement. This work will make a significant contribution to Barth scholarship and to the ongoing discussion of Barth's theology, especially among evangelicals and others who share in the Pietistic theological heritage.
Eberhard Busch is professor of systematic theology at the University of Gottingen, Germany, and author of Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts.
Daniel W. Bloesch is pastor of Attica-Williamsport Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), Indiana, and translator of a number of German theological works, including Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together (Fortress Press).
"With his customary thoroughness and flair for the important and often unknown historical detail and its theological ramifications, Professor Busch's work Karl Barth & the Pietists expands our understanding of this crucial period in the development of Barth's theology in the 1920s: the two versions of the Romans commentary and their significance for Barth's interaction with Continental Pietism. Busch's scholarship sharpens our awareness that there is much to the Barth legacy that has yet to be fully understood and unpacked, especially in its English-language reception."
Darrell L. Guder, Henry Winters Luce Professor of Missional and Ecumenical Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary
"Karl Barth & the Pietists is the history of a 'troublesome friendship' in which author Eberhard Busch lets each party to the friendship articulate just what is troublesome about it. What emerges is a focused masterpiece in historical theology with foundational significance for the integrity of Christian experience (a troubling word to Barth, a touchstone for Pietists) and the Christian life (more public and social to Barth, more individual and personal to Pietists). As Busch shows, Barth the interpreter is never isolated from Barth the interlocutor. That makes for interesting history."
John Weborg, Professor Emeritus of Theology, North Park Theological Seminary
"This book not only makes a significant contribution to Barth studies but also helps us gain more clarity on the nature of evangelicalism itself. It is for these reasons that I am happy to commend this book to an English readership."
Donald W. Dayton, Professor of Theology, Azusa Pacific University