God In Action. Karl Barth

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       INTRODUCTION

      AMERICAN religious leaders are beginning to manifest a new interest in basic theological problems. The reasons for this are quite evident. Our feverish activism, our easy optimism, and our confidence in automatic inevitable progress have been severely shaken and have given place to a feeling of helpless bewilderment. It is in such times of confusion and uncertainty that men seek the deeper realities of life. The periods of great theological vigor were also the periods of widespread confusion and disorder. Augustine wrote his Confessions while the Roman empire was breaking under the pressure of the invading barbarians. Calvin’s Institutes came out of the religious and political turmoil of his time and was written in flight from political injustice. The great vital productive ages in the history of the Church were the “creed-making,” not the “creed-reciting” ages. It is when men wrestle with truth, when they face the deepest problems of life, which are always theological, that the Church is established through the witness to the truth.

      Of course, we still have those who have “done” with theology—though as a matter of fact they never began. But there is a growing number among us, who are earnestly seeking sounder foundations, who are looking away from the frail supports of man-made plans and human ways, unto the living God revealed in Jesus Christ. To such these chapters will be a welcome aid in their search.

      These chapters will also be of interest to those who are trying to learn what Karl Barth stands for in the theological world. For the English reader it has been difficult to obtain first-hand information, especially as to Barth’s positive and constructive theology. Much, indeed, has been written about him, but both his friends and his foes, by their interpretations and criticisms, have frequently beclouded the real issues. The two СКАЧАТЬ