On knowing the time: Temporality, love and confession in Barth’s Der Römerbrief (original) (raw)
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New Light on Time in Augustine’s Confessions (Studia Patristica 2018)
Studia Patristica, 2018
In Confessions XI, Augustine tentatively defined ‘time’ (tempus) as a ‘dilation of the soul’ (distentio animi). But what did he mean? From Eugippius in the 6th century to Jean-Luc Marion in the 21st, commentators have sharply disagreed. The present article briefly sketches the reception history of Confessions XI, before restating the argument of a recent monograph on this topic, The Space of Time (Leiden and Boston, 2014). Unlike any previous interpretation of time in the Confessions: the ‘sensualist’ interpretation set out in that book coherently accounts for the time of beasts in Confessions X, the time of humans in Confessions XI, and the timelessness of Augustine’s ‘heaven of heaven’ (caelum caeli) in Confessions XII. It is then asked why Confessions XI has been read in light of Platonic, Peripatetic, Stoic, and Neoplatonic time-concepts – but never the Epicurean. To the precise extent that Augustine’s time-theory is ‘soulish’ (as D. A. Napier has put it), his time-theory is also ‘sensualist’; and there is only one ‘sensualist’ time-theory in antiquity: the Epicurean. It is finally suggested that the influence on Augustine of Lucretius’ Epicurean epic, De Rerum Natura, has gone unnoticed – and sheds new light on time in Confessions XI.
De Gruyter eBooks, 2022
The paper highlights five basic decisionsi nK arl Barth'sf irst Letter to the Romans published in 1919:1 .aChristological realism concerning history and 2. its effective objectivity beyond the community of the church,3.Barth'senergetic understanding of the spirit,4.his optimism concerning aprogress in history and 5. his option for socialism as atheological background imagination. The paper interprets these basic decisions as "problem-creating solutions," i. e., as solutions that werevalid in their time, yetatthe sametime createnew problems in the present.T ot he extent that,a ccordingt oo ne thesis of the paper,t he five decisions to be found in the 1919 Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans are surprisingly powerful in shapingt he church'st heologyi nt he present,they currentlyrepresent powerful theological temptations through their ambivalence. As the churches widelysuccumb to these temptations, the essayformulates critical queriest oB arth'sb asic decisions-from the perspective of one hundred years later. 1I ntroduction Karl Barth'sCommentary on the Letter to the Romans of 1919 remains one of the least explored areas of his oeuvre, both within Barth research and theological reception in general. Yetitwas this book that prompted the red Safenwil pastor's call to an endowed professorship financed by American(sic!) Presbyterians, even though he was without ad octorate and without ah abilitationo r" second book."¹ In contrast to the academic oversight of this work, this paper argues See EberhardBusch, Karl Barths Lebenslauf.Nach seinen Briefen und autobiographischen Texten (Munich: Kaiser,1975), 135.I tshould therefore be counted amongthe bitterironies of history that Barth's1 919 Epistle to the Romans is still awaitingt ranslation into English. It speaks for itself that the research project of the Barth conferencesi nE mden began with the year 1921.S ee
A Time to Heal: Time as Gift in St. Augustine's Confessions
In this paper, I will argue that Augustinian temporality is not inherently fallen, but a fundamentally graced aspect of creation which enables humans to learn from the Word of God. I will argue thus by examining how the themes of creation, evil, and spiritual growth interact with Augustine’s view of time in his Confessions.
DISSOLUTION NOT REJECTION: FAITH AND HISTORY IN KARL BARTH'S EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS
In the nineteenth century, theologians and biblical scholars attempted to carve out a place for Christian theology alongside other sciences. To that end, they became enamored with the historical study of Jesus. They sought evidence to show that the traditions of the church were historically situated and based on intelligible data. Today, this historical perspective has in some sense been rekindled as Christians call for a new awareness of cultural and social contexts. We must acknowledge the historical contingency of the theology we write, teach, and preach. Theology and history, we say, must speak to the actual lived experience of human beings. How then are we to understand a God who cares, who is not aloof from the movement of history, while also declaring the power of this same God to redeem time itself? That is, how can God be proximate to history and also redeem it?
Faith, Love, and Extrinsic Grace in Barth's Römerbrief
Karl Barth's Epistle to the Romans: Retrospect and Prospect, 2022
At its centenary, Barth’s Romans commentary remains underappreciated for its inventive and instructive attempt to dramatically revise longstanding Protestant explanations of the sources and character of graced human action. I argue that these revisions are especially apparent in Barth’s early accounts of graced faith and love which come together to form a novel picture of the Christian life. I focus in particular on the promise and limits of Barth’s austere ac- count of Christian love. I conclude by offering some reasons to doubt Barth’s account of love is well-poised to answer objections put to it regarding the quality of the Christian life and the coherence of Christian responsibility.