Justification: The Doctrine of Karl Barth and a Catholic Reflection

Rating:
Summary: Still a Good Read!
Review: I felt the need to defend this book and give it a fairer review. If a reader desires an accurate and concise treatment of Barth's doctrine by someone like Kung who has actually read the Dogmatics, then this book is for you! Although Kung has long since "progressed" theologically from his views here, this is still a good treatment of Justification.

As a bonus the reader will enjoy Kung's discussion of Christ's preexistence, man's sin and its effects, and the many facets of "grace" in Catholic thought. There are many criticism's of this work from both sides (i.e., McGrath and Haring), and some criticisms do stick (like the fact that Kung does not really represent the teaching of the magisterium in this work).

The previous reviewer pointed out some minor complications with this book, but the reader should know that this book was originally Kung's doctoral thesis (dissertation here in the US) and written in French with an assumed readership of professors who knew Latin well. He does use Latin, German, and French in his notes and index, but these minor things should not count against the work as a whole. English readers should be thankful that a good translation exists and leave it at that. All in all, this is still a good read.

Dunn's work does not really complement this one and readers who are looking for a historical-critical study into Paul's doctrine should bypass this book and get Dunn's. This book does what it subtitle says: it presents the doctrine of Karl Barth and a Catholic Response. I don't know how Dunn fits into the picture here.

Rating:
Summary: There are more recent approaches
Review: Recently, in observing terms used in THE THEOLOGY OF PAUL THE APOSTLE (1998) by Professor James D. G. Dunn, I noticed use of LXX as an abbreviation for Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament possibly produced by 72 Jewish scholars in 72 days at the request of Egypt's King Ptolemy II (309-247? B.C.), which was the same abbreviation used by Kung in this book. If this information was contained in this book, I missed it, and the review I wrote three months ago was obviously deficient in failing to grasp the source of a confusion that is less likely to arise when trying to read a thoroughly documented work which is extremely generous in its attempt to identify all its sources, as is the case in the scholarly summary of current issues in THE THEOLOGY OF PAUL THE APOSTLE by Dunn, which needed eight pages of Abbreviations to distinguish DJD (discoveries in the Judaean Desert) from DSS (Dead Sea scrolls), etc. Dunn's book is generally so clear that it is easier to read than the review I wrote three months ago, if you want to know the truth.

Rating:
Summary: Aftermath of an intellectual food fight
Review: This book is an intricate argument about justification, which is easily associated with those who are righteous in a juridical sense. But this book is about a theological sense, in which the grace of God makes justification a gift to sinners. The argument is old, springing from the author's examination of the concept of justification in CHURCH DOGMATICS by Karl Barth, a multi-volume work published in English in the years 1936-62, according to the Bibliography (p. 304), from original German volumes dated 1932 to 1955. (p. 303). The American edition of JUSTIFICATION by Hans Kung has a Preface dated August, 1964. Barth is accused of petrifying the teachings of the Catholic Church (p. 103) because he picks an argument with the Council of Trent that condemned Martin Luther as heretical on this issue. Adolf von Harnack, in a book published in 1910, wrote of the decree which was issued on January 13, 1547, "Although it is a work of artifice, the decree on justification is in many respects admirably worked out." (p. 105).

A number of languages show up in this book. Titles in the Bibliography tend to be in German, Latin, or French. Discussions of scripture sometimes include the Greek and Hebrew terms which appeared in the earliest versions. Using the list of Greek words in the back of YOUNG'S ANALYTICAL CONCORDANCE TO THE BIBLE, I was able to find that the Greek words associated with Catholic in this book approximate a Greek word in Acts 4:18.

"In fact, Catholic teaching is too Catholic (kappa alpha theta' omicron lambda omicron nu) to be readily spotted in any one place, for it still lays claim to all truth." (p. 111).

If the last letter had been upsilon, which looks much like nu, the word would be the same as AT ALL used in the decree in Jerusalem against the teaching of Peter and John in Acts 4: 18: "So they called them and commanded them not to speak AT ALL nor teach in the name of Jesus."

The author of this book is a priest who is a German theologian, but in 1980 the Vatican declared that he could no longer be considered a Catholic theologian. The history of this kind of conflict, from the time of the Reformation, is the main topic of JUSTIFICATION: THE DOCTRINE OF KARL BARTH AND A CATHOLIC REFLECTION. The English translation includes a letter from Karl Barth dated 31 January, 1957, acknowledging how well this book accords with his own views. Anyone who has a solid foundation in religious thinking ought to be able to appreciate the situation of the author, who is free to embrace as much thought as his mind can hold, only to be warned in 1980 that such thinking does not reflect Catholic theology simply because it appeals to him. What does he know? Part Two of this book is called: An Attempt at a Catholic Response. Considering Holy Scripture as the principle source of Catholic theology in Chapter 20, Christocentricity in Chapter 21, Creation in Chapter 22, forbearance and grace in Chapter 23, the incapacity of every form of self-justification in Chapter 24, Grace as Graciousness in Chapter 27, and embracing Essential change in Chapter 31, it is not difficult to see how the Vatican might question which side the author was on. This translation was published in 1964, long before the Vatican made its declaration in 1980 that its author was not totally committed to church doctrine.

I consider this book highly scholarly. It is prone to lose those who are not familiar with each element of its argument. There are only 17 entries in the list of Abbreviations on page xvii, before the main explanation, "Karl Barth's CHURCH DOGMATICS is cited with volume and page numbers thus: IV/1, 355." That does not explain what LXX means in Chapter 28, The Declaration of the Sinner's Justice. Possibly it covers a ten-year period, 70-79 A.D. or even 61-70 A.D., in which Paul was writing Romans 3.20, obviously the subject of the following comment: "It is significant, as Zorell says, that [delta iota kappa alpha iota omicron upsilon nu] in the LXX generally means forensic justification. On this cf. the Pauline citation in Rom. 3.20 with Ps. 143.2." (p. 209). If that does not ring any bells for you, consider the following comment, in a list of "some hints as to what can be said in favor of the forensic meaning of the word DIKAIOUN, especially in Pauline usage: . . . (3) The forensic character of the LXX citations in Paul (cf. Zorell)." (p. 210).

Zorell does not appear in the index, but the Bibliography for Part C. of this book reveals that F. Zorell published a LEXICON GRAECUM NOVI TESTAMENTI GRAECI in Paris in 1931. There is also an entry in the Bibliography for Part D, "Zorell, F. See under C." (p. 321). Most people seem to have so much justification nowadays that we don't argue about the finer points of this doctrine, but you might read this book so that thereafter you can be amazed by how many people seem to assume this kind of thing willy nilly.

The argument in this book is not overly philosophical. It sticks to theology. There isn't even an entry in the index for Kant, but Hegel is mentioned on four pages. As you might know, "Barth has assimilated, especially through the theology of Schleiermacher, the whole development from Kant through Fichte and Schelling to Hegel. He has also drawn upon later Protestant theology, particularly that of Overbeck, Feuerbach, Strauss, and especially the theological existentialism of his own teacher, Herrmann." (p. 3). I don't know how many people might still claim to know as much.

Rating:
Summary: Aftermath of an intellectual food fight
Review: This book is an intricate argument about justification, which is easily associated with those who are righteous in a juridical sense. But this book is about a theological sense, in which the grace of God makes justification a gift to sinners. The argument is old, springing from the author's examination of the concept of justification in CHURCH DOGMATICS by Karl Barth, a multi-volume work published in English in the years 1936-62, according to the Bibliography (p. 304), from original German volumes dated 1932 to 1955. (p. 303). The American edition of JUSTIFICATION by Hans Kung has a Preface dated August, 1964. Barth is accused of petrifying the teachings of the Catholic Church (p. 103) because he picks an argument with the Council of Trent that condemned Martin Luther as heretical on this issue. Adolf von Harnack, in a book published in 1910, wrote of the decree which was issued on January 13, 1547, "Although it is a work of artifice, the decree on justification is in many respects admirably worked out." (p. 105).

A number of languages show up in this book. Titles in the Bibliography tend to be in German, Latin, or French. Discussions of scripture sometimes include the Greek and Hebrew terms which appeared in the earliest versions. Using the list of Greek words in the back of YOUNG'S ANALYTICAL CONCORDANCE TO THE BIBLE, I was able to find that the Greek words associated with Catholic in this book approximate a Greek word in Acts 4:18.

"In fact, Catholic teaching is too Catholic (kappa alpha theta' omicron lambda omicron nu) to be readily spotted in any one place, for it still lays claim to all truth." (p. 111).

If the last letter had been upsilon, which looks much like nu, the word would be the same as AT ALL used in the decree in Jerusalem against the teaching of Peter and John in Acts 4: 18: "So they called them and commanded them not to speak AT ALL nor teach in the name of Jesus."

The author of this book is a priest who is a German theologian, but in 1980 the Vatican declared that he could no longer be considered a Catholic theologian. The history of this kind of conflict, from the time of the Reformation, is the main topic of JUSTIFICATION: THE DOCTRINE OF KARL BARTH AND A CATHOLIC REFLECTION. The English translation includes a letter from Karl Barth dated 31 January, 1957, acknowledging how well this book accords with his own views. Anyone who has a solid foundation in religious thinking ought to be able to appreciate the situation of the author, who is free to embrace as much thought as his mind can hold, only to be warned in 1980 that such thinking does not reflect Catholic theology simply because it appeals to him. What does he know? Part Two of this book is called: An Attempt at a Catholic Response. Considering Holy Scripture as the principle source of Catholic theology in Chapter 20, Christocentricity in Chapter 21, Creation in Chapter 22, forbearance and grace in Chapter 23, the incapacity of every form of self-justification in Chapter 24, Grace as Graciousness in Chapter 27, and embracing Essential change in Chapter 31, it is not difficult to see how the Vatican might question which side the author was on. This translation was published in 1964, long before the Vatican made its declaration in 1980 that its author was not totally committed to church doctrine.

I consider this book highly scholarly. It is prone to lose those who are not familiar with each element of its argument. There are only 17 entries in the list of Abbreviations on page xvii, before the main explanation, "Karl Barth's CHURCH DOGMATICS is cited with volume and page numbers thus: IV/1, 355." That does not explain what LXX means in Chapter 28, The Declaration of the Sinner's Justice. Possibly it covers a ten-year period, 70-79 A.D. or even 61-70 A.D., in which Paul was writing Romans 3.20, obviously the subject of the following comment: "It is significant, as Zorell says, that [delta iota kappa alpha iota omicron upsilon nu] in the LXX generally means forensic justification. On this cf. the Pauline citation in Rom. 3.20 with Ps. 143.2." (p. 209). If that does not ring any bells for you, consider the following comment, in a list of "some hints as to what can be said in favor of the forensic meaning of the word DIKAIOUN, especially in Pauline usage: . . . (3) The forensic character of the LXX citations in Paul (cf. Zorell)." (p. 210).

Zorell does not appear in the index, but the Bibliography for Part C. of this book reveals that F. Zorell published a LEXICON GRAECUM NOVI TESTAMENTI GRAECI in Paris in 1931. There is also an entry in the Bibliography for Part D, "Zorell, F. See under C." (p. 321). Most people seem to have so much justification nowadays that we don't argue about the finer points of this doctrine, but you might read this book so that thereafter you can be amazed by how many people seem to assume this kind of thing willy nilly.

The argument in this book is not overly philosophical. It sticks to theology. There isn't even an entry in the index for Kant, but Hegel is mentioned on four pages. As you might know, "Barth has assimilated, especially through the theology of Schleiermacher, the whole development from Kant through Fichte and Schelling to Hegel. He has also drawn upon later Protestant theology, particularly that of Overbeck, Feuerbach, Strauss, and especially the theological existentialism of his own teacher, Herrmann." (p. 3). I don't know how many people might still claim to know as much.