This book offers an opportunity to assess how Calvin and Barth might help to carry the mantle of Reformed theology into the future. Doctrinal areas of focus: the sacraments, the nature of atonement, and scripture.

This historically significant volume collects Karl Barth's lectures on John Calvin, delivered at the University of Göttingen in 1922. The book opens with an illuminating sketch of medieval theology, an appreciation of Luther's breakthrough, and a comparative study of the roles of Zwingli and Calvin. The main body of the work consists of an increasingly sympathetic, and at times amusing, account of Calvin's life up to his recall to Geneva. In the process, Barth examines and evaluates the early theological writings of Calvin, especially the first edition of the Institutes.

There can be little doubt that John Calvin and Karl Barth belong to the first rank of great theologians of the Church and both continue to exert profound influence on friend and foe alike. Both were theologians whose writings have particularly helped to shape the world of Reformed theology. Historically, there can be little doubt that Calvin's influence on Reformed doctrine has been much greater than that of Barth, and this continues to be so in the present day. In contract, Barth's Reformed credentials have at times been questioned - not least because of his distinctive reformulation of the doctrines of election and atonement. This raises the question: can there be a fruitful dialogue or engagement between those who seek to maintain the traditional, Calvin-orientated stance of the Reformed faith and those who are persuaded of the value of Barth's reconstruction of Reformed theology? This book offers an opportunity to assess how Calvin and Barth might help carry the mantle of Reformed theology into the future. Doctrinal areas of focus: the sacraments, the nature of atonement, and scripture.

What role does the interpretation of Scripture play in theological construction? In Reading the Decree David Gibson examines the exegesis of election in John Calvin and Karl Barth, and considers the relationship between election and Christology in their thought. He argues that for both Calvin and Barth their doctrine of election and its exegetical moorings are christologically shaped, but in significantly different ways. Building on Richard A. Muller's conceptual distinction between Calvin's soteriological christocentrism and Barth's principial christocentrism, Gibson carefully explores their exegesis of the topics of Christ and election, and the election of Israel and the church. This distinction is then further developed by showing how it has a corresponding hermeneutical form: extensive christocentrism (Calvin) and intensive christocentrism (Barth). By focussing on the reception of biblical texts Reading the Decree draws attention to the neglected exegetical foundations of Calvin's doctrine of election, and makes a fresh contribution to current debates over election in Barth's thought. The result is a study which will be of interest to biblical scholars, as well as historical and systematic theologians alike.

This Companion offers an introduction to Reformed theology, one of the most historically important, ecumenically active, and currently generative traditions of doctrinal enquiry, by way of reflecting upon its origins, its development, and its significance. The first part, Theological Topics, indicates the distinct array of doctrinal concerns which gives coherence over time to the identity of this tradition in all its diversity. The second part, Theological Figures, explores the life and work of a small number of theologians who have not only worked within this tradition, but have constructively shaped and inspired it in vital ways. The final part, Theological Contexts, considers the ways in which the resultant Reformed sensibilities in theology have had a marked impact both upon theological and ecclesiastical landscapes in different places and upon the wider societal landscapes of history. The result is a fascinating and compelling guide to this dynamic and vibrant theological tradition.

This dissertation intervenes in Reformed readings of the doctrine of providence, particularly around Barth’s critical interpretation of the tradition stemming from Calvin and Schleiermacher. Kim argues that while Barth advances the discussion, his reading of Calvin is significantly hampered by his challenge to Schleiermacher. Kim provides an extensive reading Calvin’s writings, demonstrating that Calvin is more concerned with the Christological basis and Christian meaning of providence than Barth’s theology recognizes; as well, Schleiermacher’s theological construction problematizes aspects of Barth’s reading.

Developments in biblical studies, neurosciences, and Christian philosophy of mind force theologians to reconsider the traditional concept of the immortal soul. At the same time, the concept itself tends to create axiological dualism between the body and the soul that in turn may lead to insufficient appreciation of the physical life in this world. A more holistic approach to the ontology of human beings is required. The aim of this study is to analyze the function of the concept of the soul in the dualistic anthropology of John Calvin and to compare it to the holistic anthropology of Karl Barth in order to answer the question of whether the transition from one to the other is possible without the loss of the functions fulfilled by the soul.