(CD II/1, 406)7. 4 Kierkegaard, Philosophical Fragments, 49; so also JP 1334, 2:93. . Ultimately Jesus Christ by the Spirit is the one who convinces us and others that He is who He claims to be. Barth clearly did not think miracles should be accepted simply because they are in the Bible. (CD IV/3/1, 109). Subscribe. Let us suppose that someone does really presuppose and maintain that the existence of Jesus Christ is light, truth, revelation, Word and glory, and thinks that it is obviously reasonable and incumbent to confess this. In the same way we grow stronger in our relationship with our spouse or friends after a meaningful conversation, so we can grow with God. New York: Peter Lang, 1997. As unbelievers are awakened to the need to take God seriously, some will be brought to faith by the grace of God. 1 Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Introduction to the Theology of Karl Barth (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 29. Let us summarize a few of the ways God helps. Let your body relax and allow yourself to become consciously aware of God’s presence with you. That it suffers in this way is the Church’s answer to the world on the question of a “theodicy”—the question of the justice of God in the sufferings inflicted on us in the world. (CD II/2, 165-166), If the created world is understood in light of the divine mercy revealed in Jesus Christ, of the divine participation in it eternally resolved in Jesus Christ and fulfilled by Him in time; if it is thus understood as the arena, instrument and object of His living action, of the once for all divine contesting and overcoming of its imperfection, its justification and perfection will infallibly be perceived and it will be seen to be the best of all possible worlds. It can be justified by it, and—we must at once add—sanctified. Of course, part of what God does in Christ is to speak, and fideists do not deny that revelation includes a verbal aspect. No, the Bible tells us of the miracle of revelation. My wife Vicki and I have seen this powerful reality over and over again. With the qualification that the book of Scripture is valued because in it the Holy Spirit witnesses to Jesus Christ, Barth can even affirm that Christianity is a religion of the Book: “If in reply it is asked whether Christianity is really a book-religion, the answer is that strangely enough Christianity has always been and only been a living religion when it is not ashamed to be actually and seriously a book-religion” (CD I/2, 494-495). or, Why should I trust God? 5:1-2). This is evidently why he is not uncomfortable with the presence of apparent errors in the Bible: Up until now we have done as follows: we have declared that Holy Scripture is divine revelation, inspired, etc.—ergo, there must then be perfect harmony between all the reports down to the last detail; it must be the most perfect Greek, etc. SCRIPTURE Scripture instructs us to renew our minds and set our minds on things above. (JP 2358, 3:22). Barth’s statement here makes explicit a pun or play on words noted by Geoffrey Bromiley in the title of this section, “The Revelation of God as the Abolition of Religion.” Bromiley observes “that the word abolition is used here for the German Aufhebung, which in good Hegelian fashion can mean elevating as well as abolishing. . The Bible and Holy Scriptures are the same book, to be sure, but the way in which it is regarded makes the difference. Like other fideists, Barth grounds his objections to natural theology, or theistic proofs, on the nature of God. 19 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He simply asks that he should admit that it is not he who plans and controls” (CD IV/3/1, 431). (CD I/2, 289-290). Fideists approach the question of the knowledge of God from the starting point that God is personal. “For if the God does not exist it would of course be impossible to prove it; and if he does exist it would be folly to attempt it.”4. God has promised to help us endure, but we must make use of the help He provides. When people ask how God can be all-powerful and all-loving and still allow evil, the unvoiced question they are almost always posing is, How can I trust God? Barth frankly accepts the circularity of this position: We have to admit to ourselves and to all who ask us about this question that the statement that the Bible is the Word of God is an analytical statement, a statement which is grounded only in its repetition, description and interpretation, and not in its derivation from any major propositions. A real encounter with God should produce more than just emotion it should result in change. Site by. . 7 (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1994), 69. if you are using this for a paper use [email protected] for the author, Happy New Year: Past, Present, and Future Perspectives, 4. Issues in Systematic Theology 3. But even if we confess the miracle, why should we not constantly find this or that one of the miracles obscure, why should we not constantly be taken aback by them?