How to Read Karl Barth: The Shape of His Theology

Rating:
Summary: One of the Most Perceptive Accounts of Barth's Theology
Review: Hunsinger is a matchless reader of Karl Barth and we are in his debt for this book. Barth, as has been noted time and again, is no easy read. Though his German edition of the CD received awards for the style in which he wrote, the English edition is difficult even for the most dedicated. The 50 pages we were required to read weekly in seminary during classes on Barth's CD sometimes seemed a tremendous amount. Yet, one was always rewarded for the patience required in reading such an amount on a regular basis--one volume completed by the end of the semester. When it is all said and done--Barth's work is simply overwhelming and awe-inspiring. Hunsinger helps us all by pointing out important themes in Barth's work. To have these various themes pointed out, helps immeasureably. One cannot read Hunsinger's book without gaining a deeper appreciation for Barth's complexity or his achievement, or Hunsinger's abilities as a theologian and teacher/ writer. Along with Bruce McCormack's book on Barth this is an absolutely necessary volume for anyone interested in Barth's theology.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Most Perceptive Accounts of Barth's Theology
Review: Hunsinger is a matchless reader of Karl Barth and we are in his debt for this book. Barth, as has been noted time and again, is no easy read. Though his German edition of the CD received awards for the style in which he wrote, the English edition is difficult even for the most dedicated. The 50 pages we were required to read weekly in seminary during classes on Barth's CD sometimes seemed a tremendous amount. Yet, one was always rewarded for the patience required in reading such an amount on a regular basis--one volume completed by the end of the semester. When it is all said and done--Barth's work is simply overwhelming and awe-inspiring. Hunsinger helps us all by pointing out important themes in Barth's work. To have these various themes pointed out, helps immeasureably. One cannot read Hunsinger's book without gaining a deeper appreciation for Barth's complexity or his achievement, or Hunsinger's abilities as a theologian and teacher/ writer. Along with Bruce McCormack's book on Barth this is an absolutely necessary volume for anyone interested in Barth's theology.

Rating:
Summary: an essential guide to reading the church dogmatics
Review: I got this book after I had been reading Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics for a year. Barth's writing is truly dense, and has led to many misunderstandings of him. This book has helped me to notice patterns that I had missed before. I read this book in parallel with Barth's treatment of divine election, and this book saved me from misinterpreting Barth as a universalist. In terms of practical use, I can't think of a better book.

Having taken a class from him, he is a truly brilliant teacher, and he has helped me to pay close attention to the text. One of the poverties in American theology is that the art of commentary has been lost. The medieval universities trained the Scholastic theologians by making them do close readings (lectio) of important texts (e.g. the Bible, Lombard's Sentences, etc.). Whether you agree with the Scholastics or not is one thing, but you cannot deny that the disciplined approach to theology led to some monumental achievements. Hunsinger's book is a tool to help you do that with Barth.

This book has two parts. The first part suggests six patterns that run throughout the Church Dogmatics (particularism, actualism, realism, personalism, rationalism and another one which I can't recall just now). The second part is a set of etudes on Barth's theology utilizing the 6 patterns. Hunsinger addresses the issue of double agency in Barth's soteriology, secular parables of the kingdom of God, his view of revelation, etc.

On a different subject, the other best secondary sources on Barth are Bruce McCormack's intellectual history of the pre-dogmatics Barth, John Webster's _Ethics of Reconciliation_ and Hans Urs Von Balthasar's classic study.

Rating:
Summary: an essential guide to reading the church dogmatics
Review: I got this book after I had been reading Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics for a year. Barth's writing is truly dense, and has led to many misunderstandings of him. This book has helped me to notice patterns that I had missed before. I read this book in parallel with Barth's treatment of divine election, and this book saved me from misinterpreting Barth as a universalist. In terms of practical use, I can't think of a better book.

Having taken a class from him, he is a truly brilliant teacher, and he has helped me to pay close attention to the text. One of the poverties in American theology is that the art of commentary has been lost. The medieval universities trained the Scholastic theologians by making them do close readings (lectio) of important texts (e.g. the Bible, Lombard's Sentences, etc.). Whether you agree with the Scholastics or not is one thing, but you cannot deny that the disciplined approach to theology led to some monumental achievements. Hunsinger's book is a tool to help you do that with Barth.

This book has two parts. The first part suggests six patterns that run throughout the Church Dogmatics (particularism, actualism, realism, personalism, rationalism and another one which I can't recall just now). The second part is a set of etudes on Barth's theology utilizing the 6 patterns. Hunsinger addresses the issue of double agency in Barth's soteriology, secular parables of the kingdom of God, his view of revelation, etc.

On a different subject, the other best secondary sources on Barth are Bruce McCormack's intellectual history of the pre-dogmatics Barth, John Webster's _Ethics of Reconciliation_ and Hans Urs Von Balthasar's classic study.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent resource
Review: This is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the theology of Karl Barth. George Hunsinger has provided the theological community with a new, refined vocabulary for analyzing Barth's (and others') theology. He expounds a number of characteristic thought patterns characteristic of Barth's theology (and which might give considerable trouble to the new reader) and makes them accessible. His study is very helpful in bringing out the coherence and import of Barth's work. Reading this book is a great aid in accessing Barth's theology (right up there with learning German!)