Reading Romans with Barth (CT3500T)

Content

This unit will introduce students to one of the most significant theologians since the Reformation – Karl Barth – by providing a structured, facilitated opportunity to read through, as a group, his first major publication. The unit will locate Barth in his historical, theological, and political context, as the necessary background for understanding his thought. It will also introduce students to key hermeneutical themes that emerge in the Romans commentary and through which Barth’s maturing theology can be better understood.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Two units of Systematic Theology OR One unit of Systematic Theology AND one unit of New Testament

Pedagogy

Facilitated close reading, classroom presentation, Socratic dialogue

Indicative Bibliography

• K. Barth, The Epistle to the Romans, 6th ed., trans. E.C. Hoskyns, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933; repr. 1968).
• K. Barth, Christ and Adam: Man and Humanity in Romans 5, trans. T.A. Smail, (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1956).
• E. Busch, Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts, trans. J. Bowden, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994).
• G. Hunsinger, How to Read Karl Barth: The Shape of his Theology, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).
• B.L. McCormack, Karl Barth’s Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology: Its Genesis and Development 1909-1936, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
• K. Oakes, Reading Karl Barth: A Companion to Karl Barth’s Epistle to the Romans, (Eugene: Cascade, 2011).
• Sonder ……
• J. Webster, Karl Barth, 2nd ed., (London/New York: Continuum, 2004).
• J. Webster (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Karl Barth, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).

Assessment