Karl Barth on Baptism

H. Hartwell

doi:10.1017/S0036930600012138

Karl Barth on Baptism

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 February 2009

H. Hartwell

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Some years ago Barth fell seriously ill, and no one, least of all he himself, dared hope that he would ever again be capable of adding another volume to the twelve volumes of his opus magnum, the Church Dogmatics, which had appeared from 1932 till 1962. After his remarkable recovery in autumn 1965, however, he has paid a visit to Rome in September 1966, the fruit of which was his highly instructive report Ad Limina Apostolorum (reviewed in SJT, vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 110f), and now he has presented us with another volume of his Church Dogmatics, though, for the reasons given in the Preface to K.D. IV.4, the latter had to be confined to a fraction of what Barth had originally hoped to achieve in that volume. To understand what follows, we must call to mind that Barth, treating ethics as an integral part of dogmatics, had dealt in his doctrine of God (C.D. II.2) with the command of God as an essential element in the very Being of God (general ethics). In his doctrine of creation (C.D. III.4) he had discussed the command (special ethics) of God the Creator. In his teaching on reconciliation he had so far expounded (C.D. IV. 1–3) the three aspects of Jesus Christ's work of reconciliation, namely His priestly work as the Lord (Son of God) who became a servant to accomplish the work of reconciliation, His kingly work as the servant (Son of Man) who became Lord and by His exaltation exalted man to fellowship with God, and His prophetic work as the Godman who as the Mediator of man's reconciliation with God is the Guarantor and Witness of that reconciliation.

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Type: Research Article
Information: Scottish Journal of Theology , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , March 1969, pp. 10 - 29
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0036930600012138 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd 1969

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^{page 10 note 1} K.D. = Kirchliche Dogmatik; C.D. = Church Dogmatics, E.T. of K.D., T. and T. Clark, Edinburgh.

^{page 10 note 2} Reviewed in SJT, vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 400ff.

^{page 10 note 3} Preface to K.D. IV. 4, p. ix.

^{page 11 note 1} ibid.

^{page 11 note 2} E.T.: The Teaching of the Church regarding Baptism (1948).

^{page 11 note 3} K.D. IV. 4, pp. ix, x.

^{page 12 note 1} E.T. of the sixth edition (1933), p. 192.

^{page 12 note 2} See above.

^{page 12 note 3} loc. cit., p. 9.

^{page 12 note 4} ibid., p. 12.

^{page 12 note 5} ibid., p. 29.

^{page 12 note 6} Institutes, IV. 15.2.

^{page 12 note 7} loc. cit., p. 26.

^{page 12 note 8} ibid., p. 27.

^{page 12 note 9} ibid., pp. 28, 29.

^{page 12 note 10} ibid., pp. 32ff.

^{page 12 note 11} ibid., pp. 41ff.

^{page 13 note 1} C.D. I.1, p. 61f; 1.2, pp. 229ff, 232ff.

^{page 13 note 2} C.D. II.1, pp. 52, 54, 647; II.2, p. 434; III.2, p. 585.

^{page 13 note 3} C.D. IV.2, p. xi.

^{page 13 note 4} K.D. IV.4, pp. x, xi.

^{page 13 note 5} C.D. IV.2, pp. 40, 54f.

^{page 13 note 6} cf. Quick, Oliver C., The Christian Sacraments (1927), pp. 104, 174, where Baptism is described as an ‘extension’ of the Incarnation and the Atonement.Google Scholar

^{page 13 note 7} C.D. IV.2, p. 55.

^{page 13 note 8} ibid., p. xi.

^{page 14 note 1} C.D. IV.1, p. 151f.

^{page 14 note 2} K.D. IV.4, P. xiif.

^{page 14 note 3} ibid., p. xi f; see below, section IV.

^{page 14 note 4} ibid., p. xii.

^{page 14 note 5} See my book The Theology of Karl Barth: An Introduction (1964), p. 15.

^{page 15 note 1} K.D. IV. 4, p. xiii.

^{page 15 note 2} ibid., p. 45.

^{page 15 note 3} ibid., p. 1 (my own translation).

^{page 16 note 1} ibid., p. 15.

^{page 16 note 2} ibid., p. 18.

^{page 17 note 1} ibid., p. 25.

^{page 17 note 2} ibid.

^{page 17 note 3} ibid., p. 32f.

^{page 18 note 1} ibid. pp. 34ff.

^{page 18 note 2} ibid., p. 37.

^{page 18 note 3} ibid.

^{page 19 note 1} Mark 3.34.

^{page 19 note 2} K.D. IV. 4, pp. 40 ff.

^{page 19 note 3} ibid., p. 45.

^{page 20 note 1} ibid.

^{page 20 note 2} ibid., pp. 49ff.

^{page 21 note 1} ibid., p. 53.

^{page 21 note 2} ibid., p. 54f.

^{page 21 note 3} ibid., pp. 56ff.

^{page 21 note 4} ibid., p. 58.

^{page 21 note 5} ibid., p. 67.

^{page 22 note 1} ibid., pp. 70ff.

^{page 22 note 2} ibid., pp. 73ff.

^{page 22 note 3} ibid., p. 78.

^{page 22 note 4} ibid., pp. 80ff.

^{page 23 note 1} ibid., pp. 82ff.

^{page 23 note 2} ibid., p. 97f.

^{page 23 note 3} ibid., pp. 99–110.

^{page 23 note 4} ibid., pp.110ff.

^{page 23 note 5} ibid., p. 112.

^{page 23 note 6} ibid., pp. 113–17.

^{page 24 note 1} ibid., pp. 117–39.

^{page 24 note 2} ibid., p. 140.

^{page 24 note 3} ibid., p. 141f.

^{page 24 note 4} ibid., p. 145f.

^{page 24 note 5} ibid., p. 149f.

^{page 24 note 6} ibid., pp. 153ff, 160ff.

^{page 24 note 7} ibid., p. 157f.

^{page 24 note 8} ibid., p. 158.

^{page 25 note 1} ibid., p. 164f.

^{page 25 note 2} ibid., pp. 168ff.

^{page 25 note 3} ibid., pp. 171ff.

^{page 25 note 4} ibid., pp. 180ff.

^{page 25 note 5} Sponsa Verbi (1961), p. 16.

^{page 25 note 6} ‘The gravest of all the decisions made in the history of the Church.’

^{page 25 note 7} K.D. IV.4, p. 181f.

^{page 26 note 1} ibid., pp. 186ff.

^{page 26 note 2} ibid., pp. 189ff.

^{page 26 note 3} ibid., pp. 192ff.

^{page 26 note 4} ibid. p. 196f.

^{page 26 note 5} ibid., pp. 197–207.

^{page 26 note 6} ibid., pp. 198, 201f.

^{page 27 note 1} ibid., p. 205.

^{page 27 note 2} ibid., pp. 208ff.

^{page 27 note 3} ibid., p. 213.

^{page 27 note 4} ibid., pp. 215ff.

^{page 27 note 5} ibid., pp. 217ff.

^{page 27 note 6} ibid., p. 220f.

^{page 28 note 1} ibid., p. 221.

^{page 28 note 2} ibid.

^{page 28 note 3} ibid., p. 227.

^{page 28 note 4} ibid., pp. 227ff.

^{page 28 note 5} ibid., pp. 229ff.

^{page 28 note 6} ibid., p. 233f.

^{page 28 note 7} ibid., pp. 42ff.

^{page 29 note 1} Oliver C. Quick, loc. cit., pp. 161, 173.

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