Karl Barth is widely regarded as the most important theologian of
the twentieth century, and his observations about the church and
its place in a modern world continue to engage religious scholars
nearly fifty years after his death.
Eberhard Busch is professor emeritus of Reformed theology at the
University of Göttingen, Germany and a former student of and
personal assistant to Karl Barth.
Karlfried Froehlich is Princeton Theological Seminary's Benjamin B.
Warfield Emeritus Professor of Ecclesiastical History and serves as
German editor for Barth in Conversation. His special interest is
the history of biblical interpretation, especially in the Middle
Ages, Christian iconography, and ecumenism.
Darrell L. Guder is Princeton Theological Seminary's Henry Winters
Luce Emeritus Professor of Missional and Ecumenical Theology and
serves as English editor for Barth in Conversation. His writing and
teaching focus on the theology of the missional church, especially
the theological implications of the paradigm shift to
post-Christendom as the context for Christian mission in the
West.
David C. Chao is a PhD candidate in theology at Princeton
Theological Seminary and serves as Project Editor for Barth in
Conversation. His research interests include Protestant and
Catholic dogmatics (especially as they pertain to issues of nature
and grace), Reformed theology (classical and modern), and Asian
American theology.
Matthias Gockel is senior lecturer in Systematic Theology at the
University of Basel and serves as German editor for Barth in
Conversation. His research interests include the theology of Karl
Barth and its reception, modern Protestant theology, the doctrine
of God, and political ethics.
"Barth in Conversation is every beginning and even advanced Barth
reader's dream - Barth without the footnotes but with all the
feeling. No less profoundly theological and Biblical, Barth in
these dialogues, discussions, and debates, is all the more
practical and personal. You can now overhear the recently retired
professor be interviewed by TIME magazine and the BBC, answer
questions put to him by missionaries, church leaders, youth
pastors, and by students at his neighborhood restaurant. The
transcripts, recordings, and notes of a full, very critical, year
of international and intentional engagements are now available for
the English reader. For those who feasted with (and on) Barth, now
you can sit down at table with him. I recommend these conversations
for any who would desire to know better the churchman who wrote the
Church Dogmatics. Barth in Conversation presents a delightful,
smiling, personally engaging Christian without being any less of an
engaging, exacting theologian. Barth on a whirlwind travel schedule
meets with many in small and large venues, inviting them to speak,
listening to their questions and responses to his answers, and thus
initiating genuine dialogue, all the while embracing them as his
equals in their commitment to Christ and the church. These
conversations reveal more fully the disciple of Christ glad for the
companions along the way. Not alone in his study, but gathered with
fellow believers, Barth in Conversation is Barth not read but
witnessed, not overheard so much as heard. I recommend this volume
to all who would meet, witness, and be welcomed by Karl Barth".
-Jerry Andrews, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of San Diego
"A book that seizes and sustains interest. This remarkable
collection of conversations, beautifully edited and translated,
reveals Karl Barth in his first year of retirement doing theology,
not as dogmatikos (firm doctrinal formulation), but as gynastikos
(something being tested) with multiple publics and media. He shows
himself at home in all of them. In every case, Barth engages with
his partner and the crucial issues of the time with curiosity,
patience, insight, seriousness, and above all with joy rooted in
the living God. This book enriches our perception of Karl Barth,
especially in the conversations around the Barmen Declaration."
-Richard Topping, Principal and Professor of Studies in the
Reformed Tradition, Vancouver School of Theology
"In the first decade of my work as a pastor, I read the Church
Dogmatics often. The help I received was immeasurable. Yet, I
frequently found myself wishing I could have sat with professor
Barth, face to face. To ask my questions. To press him further than
he went. To bring before him the concrete challenges of the
community of faith and hear him speak to my specific concerns. The
conversations, available for the first time in English in this
volume, are as close to what I had wished for as one could get.
Here, I am invited into the exchange. My questions are put to him
in others' voices. Barth's answers address my own concerns. The
tone and tenor of the transcriptions put me there with the old
teacher. He speaks to me as a pastor, a student, and a colleague
seeking the path to faithful ministry today. This is a gift to the
church, and to every pastor who wants to grow." -Christian Andrews,
Lead Pastor, Renaissance Church, Summit, New Jersey.
"The appearance in English translation of these interviews and
conversations with Karl Barth in 1963 is a welcome event. A sharp
sense of context, an enthusiasm for theological conversation, an
irrepressible humour, and a restless intellect are all at work
here. More importantly perhaps, Barth's musings reveal the ways in
which theology was never for him a formulaic exercise or set of
defensive manoeuvres. With its explanatory footnotes, this volume
should prove an enjoyable read for a wide audience." -David
Fergusson, Professor of Divinity, University of Edinburgh
"Theological systems and philosophical tomes remain important, but
now more than ever we're aware that it's not brain in vats that do
theology, but living, embodied persons, with histories,
commitments, and senses of humor. Barth told us long ago that it's
a joyful task to be a theologian, because it's something that
living persons do in contemplation of a living God. In this volume
you'll find a treasure of little known pieces of Barth that reveal,
suddenly but surely, a living person doing theology with joy. Each
piece gives us insight not only into Barth the theologian, but
Barth the person. It is a joy to read, inspiring the reader to look
again and again for revelation of God in Jesus Christ." -Andrew
Root, The Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family
Ministry, Luther Seminary, and author of The Pastor in a Secular
Age
"This translation of the second of three volumes of Barth's
conversations and interviews, this time from 1963, is yet another
welcome addition to Barth scholarship in English, and of the same
excellent technical quality as the earlier volume. Readers will
again find intriguing personal perspectives on many themes, events,
figures, questions, developments. The volume brings joy, insight,
and inspiration to many who do not read as scholars, after all,
bringing to life the voice of someone keenly interested in the
students and the pastors he is listening and talking to. Again and
again one cannot help but see the smile, hear the laughter, smell
the pipe, and sense the urging - 'to show some courage, ' 'be a bit
younger, ' 'speak less complicated, ' 'become more like children, '
'not be boring, ' 'keep things simple, ' 'drink more coffee.'
Still, the joy and the laughter never hides the seriousness, both
of his responses and of his often critical counter questions.
Indeed, 'this joy is a serious joy, ' still today." -Dirk Smit,
Rimmer and Ruth De Vries Professor of Reformed Theology and Public
Life, Princeton Theological Seminary
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