The problem of human freedom before God echoes through the conflicts of western theology. Karl Barth faced not only the question of autonomy but also the theological answers that liberals had attempted to provide to it. This notable book, written by a Roman Catholic theologian, provides a comprehensive and useful guide to the 'new wave' of German Barth interpretation.

The posthumous publication of previously unavailable academic lectures by Karl Barth allows unprecedented access to the crucial formative years between the production of his two major masterpieces, the Commentary on Romans and the Church Dogmatics. Barth was professor at the University of Göttingen (1921-1926). It was here that he was to formulate many of the ideas that would later be developed or altered in the Church Dogmatics. Providing insightful comparisons and contrast with some of Barth's major contemporaries, Christopher Asprey draws widely on the lecture courses, as well as on other better known texts from the period, to give a comprehensive account of Barth's theology in these years. Unterricht in der christlichen Religion (Göttingen Dogmatics), the only full dogmatics cycle Barth completed during his lifetime, provides a key focus for Asprey's study. A picture emerges of Barth's concerns during this period that is different from many other established accounts: rather than being 'occasionalist' or dualist, Barth's theology in the 1920s was characterised by an orientation towards the eschatological encounter between God and humankind. Barth's intention in the Göttingen Dogmatics was to introduce his students to their responsibility before the Word of God, all other theological topics then flowing towards or from the 'dialogical' moment of encounter between this Word and human beings. This reading is borne out by in-depth analyses of some of the major themes in the dogmatics: revelation, incarnation, resurrection, pneumatology, moral and sacramental theology. While Barth's focus on the eschatological presence of God explains the freshness and immediacy of his writing in the 1920s, it is also shown at a number of points how this perspective generates various dilemmas in his theology, which remain unresolved during this period.

This book investigates the way in which the 'actualistic ontology' - i.e., the fact that God and human agents are beings-in-act in a covenant relationship - that underlies the Church Dogmatics of Karl Barth affects his conception of ethical agency. It analyses this effect along three paths of inquiry: knowing what is right (the noetic dimension), doing what is right (the ontic dimension), and achieving what is right (the telic dimension). The first section of the book explores the discipline of theological ethics as Barth construes it, both in its theoretical status and in its actual practice. In the second section, the ontological import of ethical agency for Barth is considered in relation to the divine action and the divine command. The final section of the book examines the teleological purpose envisaged in this theological ethics in terms of participation, witness, and glorification. At each stage of the book, the strong interconnectedness of theological ethics and actualistic ontology in the Church Dogmatics is drawn out. The resultant appreciation of the actualistic dimension which underlies the theological ethics of Karl Barth feeds into a fruitful engagement with a variety of critiques of Barth's conception of ethical agency. It is demonstrated that resources can be found within this actualistic ontology to answer some of the diverse criticisms, and that attempts to revise Barth's theological ethics at the margins would have catastrophic and irreversible consequences for his whole theological project.

A study of individualism and the Bible provides an excellent example of how culture both shapes our understanding of Scripture and ought to be shaped by it. Every reading of Scripture is an encultured reading, and good students of the Bible must be aware of where their cultural bias might lead them astray. However, too often critics have proposed that because individualistic cultures are culturally removed from the world of the Bible, that by necessity makes readings with an individualistic emphasis suspect. This work shows that these criticisms are unfounded. A reading of Scripture influenced by individualism does indeed highlight several important aspects of theology. It features the significance of each human in the divine program because if the imago dei. This significance is clearly seen in personal responsibility for both sin and righteousness, faith and unbelief. The Bible elevates the significant of the individual, and so should we as well.