Presupposing God

“Among his readers, it has long been a truism that Barth was motivated by a desire to free theology from the epistemic straitjacket in which Kant had left it. Others have talked about Barth’s relationship to Kant, but no one has confronted the question as directly, as clearly, and as convincingly as Robert Hand does here. This book is needed reading for anyone who wants to understand how Barth’s theology developed and why he ended up where he did.”


—Bruce Marshall, Southern Methodist University





“In this highly stimulating and original work, Hand makes a fresh contribution not only to Barth studies but also to our understanding of Kantian philosophical theology. With a deceptively light touch, he takes us through a thicket of diverging Kant interpretations before reaching his astonishing argument that Barth and Kant share many substantial elements of convergence. I expect this book to become a standard point of reference for any future discussion of Barth on the vexed question of our knowledge of God.”


—George Hunsinger, Princeton Theological Seminary





“Hand’s work is part of a trajectory in Kant studies which takes seriously the integrity and originality of his religious philosophy. At the same time, it demonstrates Kant’s deep influence on subsequent Christian theology. This book is a significant contribution to our understanding of the Kantian background to Karl Barth’s dogmatic theology and its distinctively modern shape.”


—Simon Oliver, Durham University





“Robert Hand is convinced that Kant, with his ‘robust, positive Christian theism,’ was and still can be a positive influence for Christian thought, especially in the field of theological epistemology. Hand shows convincingly how Barth never completely let go of certain key traits of Kant’s epistemology, even as he moved past Kant in his massive treatment on the knowledge of God and its utter dependance on God’s own self-manifestation.”


—Christophe Chalamet, University of Geneva





“This book brings together two unlikely bedfellows: Kant and Barth. Rather than pit them against one another, Hand suggests we rethink the relationship between these weighty figures, building a solid case for several distinctly Kantian epistemological themes that Barth continues to develop and use throughout his various works. Hand does a masterful job of analyzing a massive amount of literature, enhancing the scholarship on the theological thinking of these two prominent men.”


—Mary L. Vanden Berg, Calvin Theological Seminary





“Presupposing God challenges the view that Barth’s engagement with Kant’s philosophy and its neo-Kantian interpretations is only of limited theological import for Barth’s work. On Hand’s reading, the philosophical limits Kant places on the scope of finite human reason resonate fully with Barth’s theological resistance to claims of ‘liberal theology.’ Central to this profound resonance between Barth and Kant is a shared theological epistemology, one ‘which does not produce knowledge of God but rather receives it.’”


—Philip J. Rossi, SJ, Marquette University, emeritus





“That Kant was an influence on—indeed, an asset to—Barth’s theological revelatory epistemology and that Kant can be a helpful influence for contemporary theology may seem to be counterintuitive. This careful work makes the convincing and nuanced case that it is so. Hand simply shows that Barth himself and, indeed, all theology after Kant, simply has to reckon with him, even if only to adapt or refine his assertions. I recommend the careful scholarship that this work represents.”


—Ross Hastings, Regent College