Barth and Dostoevsky

by P H Brazier, Stephen R Holmes (Foreword by)

Overview

A work of historic and systematic theology, Barth and Dostoevsky, examines the influence of the Russian writer and prophet Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky on the Swiss theologian Karl Barth. This is a study that demonstrates that the writings of Dostoevsky affected the development of the theology of Karl Barth. This was an influence mediated by his friend and colleague Eduard Thurneysen and was in the form of a key element of Barth's thought: his understanding of sin and grace. Therefore, this study explicates first, the reading of Dostoevsky by Barth, 1915-1916, and the influence on this understanding of sin and grace; second, a study of Eduard Thurneysen in so far as his life and work complements and influences Barth; third, Barth's illustrative use of Dostoevsky, around 1918-1921, the period of the rewriting of his seminal commentary on Romans--""the bombshell on the playground of the theologians,"" as Karl Adams put it. ""This is a fascinating and thoroughly informed study of a largely uncharted topic in the history of theology, which illuminates not only Barth and his development but also the intellectual context in which his thought took shape."" --John Webster, Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Aberdeen ""It is one thing to demonstrate coincidence of ideas, citations, illustrative use, and even appreciative acknowledgment, yet it is notoriously hard to establish influence or dependence. This is a painstaking and persuasive attempt in this direction which, at very least, establishes an influence in Barth's initial rejection of Liberalism, alongside other influences, that too often has been overlooked or dismissed too quickly."" --John E. Colwell, Tutor in Christian Doctrine and Ethics and Director of Post Graduate Research, Spurgeon's College, London ""References to Dostoevsky in Barth's work, while occasionally noted, have never been explored in depth. Paul Brazier corrects that oversight and provides us with a meticulous and fascinating account of Dostoevsky's impact upon Barth's early theology, especially his theology of sin and grace."" --Murray Rae, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand Originally trained in the fine arts in the 1970s and having taught extensively, Paul Brazier holds degrees in Systematic Theology from King's College London, where he completed his PhD on Barth and Dostoevsky. He is the editor of Colin E. Gunton's The Barth Lectures (2007) and The Revelation and Reason Seminars (2008).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781556358685
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	04/01/2008
Series:	Paternoster Theological Monographs
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Originally trained in the fine arts in the 1970s and having taught extensively, Paul Brazier holds degrees in Systematic Theology from King's College London, where he completed his PhD on Barth and Dostoevsky. He is the editor of Colin E. Gunton's The Barth Lectures (2007) and The Revelation and Reason Seminars (2008).

Table of Contents

Tables and Graphics     xv
Foreword   Stephen R. Holmes     xvii
Acknowledgements     xxi
Introduction     1
Barth on Dostoevsky     1
Why No Dostoevsky?     2
Aims and Objectives     2
Romans     3
Liberal and Atheist?     3
Revolutionary Theology in the Making
Wendung und Retraktation     7
Karl Barth and Eduard Thurneysen     7
Barth's Theological Development     8
Comrade Barth and War     10
Wendung und Retraktation     14
Hermann Kutter     16
Barth and Thurneysen's Theological Agenda: 'The Problem'     17
The Apophatic Barth - God's Aseity     19
Kriegszeit und Gottesreich     19
Apophatic Language and Concepts     22
Dialectic and a Critique of Religion in the Service of the Gospel     25
Karl Barth - Schuld und Suhne
Sonya and Raskolnikov-a Dialectic of Sin and Grace     31
Crime and Punishment     31
Trespass and Reparation     32
Atheism     33
Dialectic in Dostoevsky's Doctrine of God     35
Dostoevsky - Judgement and Intellectual Sins     39
'The Idea'     40
Die Gerechtigkeit Gottes     47
Wilfulness     47
eritis sicut deus - The Tower of Babel     47
Barth and The Tower of Babel     49
Dostoevsky and The Tower of Babel     53
Conscience and the Critical Realism of God     58
Conscience as Liberal Piety?     59
Graceful Sin - Sinful Grace     60
Luther and Calvin     62
Barth on the Influence of Dostoevsky     65
Der romische Katholizismus als Frage an die protestantische Kirche (1928)     65
Barth and Rome     66
Sin, Grace and Dostoevsky     68
Grace, Forgiveness and Redemption - Christian Soteriology     71
Barth's Theological Education - Neo-Protestant Liberalism     73
Barth on the Influence of Dostoevsky     73
Von Balthasar's Understanding     76
Barth and Thurneysen's Theological Agenda: 'The Solution'     79
Reading: Barth and Paul - Thurneysen and Dostoevsky     79
Dostoevsky and the Russian New Testament     81
Die neue Welt in der Bibel     84
The Early Influence of Dostoevsky on Barth: Interim Conclusion     86
Thurneysen and Barth - Theology, Ministry and Pastoral Care
Eduard Thurneysen     91
Eduard Thurneysen (1888-1974)     91
Works - Ministerial     94
Works - Theological     95
Pastoral Theology     99
Die Lehre von der Seelsorge     99
Sin and the Human Condition before God     102
Dostojewski     107
What is Humanity?     107
Dostoevsky's Men and Women     108
Dostoevsky's Perspective     110
Ivan Karamazov, The Grand Inquisitor, and the Devil     112
Knowledge of God     113
Summary of Thurneysen's Dostojewski     114
Influences on Thurneysen and Barth's Understanding of Dostoevsky     117
Thurneysen and Barth's Understanding of Dostoevsky     117
Influences on Thurneysen: Herman Hesse     118
Influences on Thurneysen: Stefan Zweig, Karl Notzel Akim Lwowitsch Wolynski and Jeremias Gotthelf     119
Dostoevsky - 'this Russian'     122
Russian Orthodoxy and Eastern Platonism?     123
Theological Existentialism     129
Religion as the Result of the Fall     130
Feuerbach and Dostoevsky     133
God-Humanity     136
Dostoevsky and Romerbrief 2
Barth and Der Romerbrief      141
Barth-Thurneysen: The Period of The Rewriting of Der Romerbrief     141
Correspondence 1919-1923     141
Romerbrief 1 (1916-18, Published 1919)     149
Romerbrief 2 (1920-21, Published 1922)     154
Der Christ in der Gesellschaft (1919)     155
Kierkegaard and Dostoevsky     159
Influences on the Rewriting of Romerbrief 2     159
Kierkegaard or Dostoevsky     161
Infinite Qualitative Distinction     162
Dialectic and an Interpretation of the New Testament     164
A Criticism of Religion in the Service of the Gospel     166
The Nature of the Influence of Kierkegaard and Dostoevsky     168
Dostoevsky and Romerbrief 2     171
The Nature of the Evidence     171
The Content and Spread of the References to Dostoevsky and Others in Romerbrief 2: Sources Secular and Ecclesial     171
Gottingen - a Reformed position     178
Theological Anthropology     181
Theological Anthropology: The Human Condition and the Nature of the Relationship of Sin and Grace between Humanity and God     181
Theological Anthropology in Romerbrief 2     181
The Human Condition before God     182
A Criticism of Church-Religion     187
A Criticism of Church-Religion: The Grand Inquisitor, Roman Catholicism, Socialism and Atheism     187
The Brothers Karamazov, Ivan Karamazov and The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor     188
The Influence of Ivan Karamazov on Barth and Thurneysen     189
Hebrew Religion and the Church seen as Synonymous     192
Dialectic of Faith-Religion and Theism-Atheism     193
Criticism of the Pseudo-Religious Archetype of a Socialist-Communist Revolutionary     195
The Paradox of Christlikeness     197
The Paradox of Christlikeness: The Parables of Jesus and the Characters of Dostoevsky     197
Myshkin and Alyosha - Christlike Archetypes     199
Conclusion     203
The Marginalizing of Kierkegaard and Dostoevsky     203
Influence or Illustration?     203
An Understanding/Doctrine of Sin and Grace?     204
Conclusion - Barth and Dostoevsky     207
Bibliography     209
Karl Barth: Works     210
Eduard Thurneysen: Works     217
Karl Barth and Eduard Thurneysen: Joint Works     222
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky: Works     223
General Sources     229
Index     233
Index of Names     233
Index of Subjects      236

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This is a fascinating and thoroughly informed study of a largely uncharted topic in the history of theology, which illuminates not only Barth and his development but also the intellectual context in which his thought took shape."
—John Webster, Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Aberdeen

"It is one thing to demonstrate coincidence of ideas, citations, illustrative use, and even appreciative acknowledgment, yet it is notoriously hard to establish influence or dependence. This is a painstaking and persuasive attempt in this direction which, at very least, establishes an influence in Barth's initial rejection of Liberalism, alongside other influences, that too often has been overlooked or dismissed too quickly."
—John E. Colwell, Tutor in Christian Doctrine and Ethics and Director of Post Graduate Research, Spurgeon's College, London

"References to Dostoevsky in Barth's work, while occasionally noted, have never been explored in depth. Paul Brazier corrects that oversight and provides us with a meticulous and fascinating account of Dostoevsky's impact upon Barth's early theology, especially his theology of sin and grace."
—Murray Rae, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Editorial Reviews

"This is a fascinating and thoroughly informed study of a largely uncharted topic in the history of theology, which illuminates not only Barth and his development but also the intellectual context in which his thought took shape."
—John Webster, Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Aberdeen

"It is one thing to demonstrate coincidence of ideas, citations, illustrative use, and even appreciative acknowledgment, yet it is notoriously hard to establish influence or dependence. This is a painstaking and persuasive attempt in this direction which, at very least, establishes an influence in Barth's initial rejection of Liberalism, alongside other influences, that too often has been overlooked or dismissed too quickly."
—John E. Colwell, Tutor in Christian Doctrine and Ethics and Director of Post Graduate Research, Spurgeon's College, London

"References to Dostoevsky in Barth's work, while occasionally noted, have never been explored in depth. Paul Brazier corrects that oversight and provides us with a meticulous and fascinating account of Dostoevsky's impact upon Barth's early theology, especially his theology of sin and grace."
—Murray Rae, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

From the Publisher