Reading Auschwitz with Barth

by Mark R Lindsay

Overview

It has been widely accepted that few individuals had as great an influence on the church and its theology during the twentieth century as Karl Barth (1886-1968). His legacy continues to be explored and explained, with theologians around the world and from across the ecumenical spectrum vigorously debating the doctrinal ramifications of Barth's insights. What has been less readily accepted is that the Holocaust of the Jews had an equally profound effect, and that it, too, entails far-reaching consequences for the church's understanding of itself and its God. In this groundbreaking book, Barth and the Holocaust are brought into deliberate dialogue with one another to show why the church should heed both their voices, and how that may be done.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781610972734
Publisher:	Pickwick Publications
Publication date:	01/28/2014
Series:	Princeton Theological Monograph , #202
Pages:	202
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Associate Professor Mark R. Lindsay is Director of Research at MCD University of Divinity. He is the author of two earlier books on Karl Barth—Covenanted Solidarity: The Theological Basis of Karl Barth's Opposition to Nazi Antisemitism and the Holocaust (2001), and Barth, Israel and Jesus (2007)—as well as numerous chapters and articles on Barth, Bonhoeffer, and post-Holocaust theology.

Table of Contents

Foreword Martin Rumscheidt vii

Preface xi

List of Abbreviations xv

Introduction 1

Section I Setting the Scene

1 Facing the Tremendum (I): The Shook and Modern Jewish Thought 15

2 Facing the Tremendum (II): The Shoah and Modern Christian Thought 41

Section II Engaging with Barth

3 The Barthian Barrier: Karl Barth's Natural Theological Nein! to the Holocaust 65

4 Shoah as Witness? The Holocaust as a Testifying Event 90

5 Barth and Berkovits: The Dialectics of Revelation and the Hester Panim 115

6 The Solidarity of Crucified Suffering 137

Conclusion: The Barthian Challenge to Post-Holocaust Theology-A Caution Against Saying Too Much 162

Bibliography 169

Name Index 179

Subject Index 183

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Will Lindsay dare to write so openly about Barth's theology as it stands before this icon of Jewish suffering and Jewish death? . . . Well, I shall say, read Mark Lindsay's book! Because neither Christian nor Jew in this century can avoid confronting the challenges of Auschwitz. And because Barth's return to Scripture, 'old' and 'new,' includes a return to the Jews."
—Peter Ochs, Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, University of Virginia

"Mark Lindsay is an internationally recognized expert on Karl Barth's attitude toward the Jews. . . . He shows not only that Barth is a fruitful dialogue partner for post-Holocaust theology, but also that he offers profound theological resources for coming to terms with the Holocaust itself. . . . Lindsay is right that Barth failed to confront the Holocaust directly. This is essentially the book that Barth himself should have written."
—George Hunsinger, McCord Professor of Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary

Editorial Reviews

"Will Lindsay dare to write so openly about Barth's theology as it stands before this icon of Jewish suffering and Jewish death? . . . Well, I shall say, read Mark Lindsay's book! Because neither Christian nor Jew in this century can avoid confronting the challenges of Auschwitz. And because Barth's return to Scripture, 'old' and 'new,' includes a return to the Jews."
—Peter Ochs, Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, University of Virginia

"Mark Lindsay is an internationally recognized expert on Karl Barth's attitude toward the Jews. . . . He shows not only that Barth is a fruitful dialogue partner for post-Holocaust theology, but also that he offers profound theological resources for coming to terms with the Holocaust itself. . . . Lindsay is right that Barth failed to confront the Holocaust directly. This is essentially the book that Barth himself should have written."
—George Hunsinger, McCord Professor of Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary

From the Publisher

…this is an interesting, readable, and important book that provides a fitting capstone to Lindsay's trilogy. One of the most significant contributions of this book is its willingness to face what Lindsay calls the tremendum of the holocaust and to continue to rethink Christian theology, liturgy, and practice in light of the horror of those events.

(57.2), March 2016 - Ashley Cocksworth