Concept of history in the theology of Karl Barth

Abstract

This thesis provides a complete, chronological view of Barth’s concept of history throughout his theological career. The purpose of undertaking this hitherto unattempted task is to demonstrate that, ever since his full engagement with dogmatics in the mid-1920s, Barth has unequivocally affirmed the reality of the history which revelation becomes and is. Though he continues to insist upon the transcendence of revelation, he does so by way of an increasingly christocentric theology, so that both divine sovereignty and human dignity are firmly upheld. This is especially evident in his later theology, with his concentration on the history of Jesus Christ on the basis of the doctrine of election. This thesis thus rejects both the charge that Barth’s theology is ahistorical or anti-historical on the one hand, and the charge that it is excessively historical on the other.