The sixth book in the series, Kierkegaard as a Christian Thinker, this volume explores the resources that Søren Kierkegaard and Karl Barth offer the Christian church for confident knowledge of and talk about God, humanity and God’s purposes for the world. Here, systematic and analytic theologians Alan and Andrew Torrance integrate their lifelong studies of and expertise in Barth and Kierkegaard to explore the ways that Kierkegaard influenced Barth in explicit and implicit ways – an impact easily overlooked in light of Barth’s later distancing of himself from the Danish philosopher. The Torrances develop the theological and philosophical trajectory of Kierkegaard and Barth, particularly the claims that any true knowledge of God is not inherent to humanity but must be given, ‘beyond immanence’, through the gracious activity of God in Jesus Christ, an act that continues today by the Spirit.
In chapter 1, the Torrances provide an overview of Kierkegaard’s audience and approach. They helpfully introduce the broad strokes of Hegel’s philosophy and Kierkegaard’s corresponding critique, including Kierkegaard’s emphasis on the individual’s choice to follow Jesus in contrast to passive collusion with the so-called progressing ‘Christian’ culture. Kierkegaard thus confronts Danish Christianity’s ‘failure to be attentive to the person of Jesus Christ and his call to discipleship’ (p. 59).
In chapter 2, the Torrances highlight elements of Kierkegaard’s thought and theology that were most influential on Barth. They introduce Kierkegaard’s teaching on the ‘infinite qualitative difference’ between God and his creation that necessitates a Teacher entering their world from outside of it to enable creatures to know God rightly. The Torrances also build the case that when Barth dismissed Kierkegaard’s teaching later in his theological development, Barth was unaware of Kierkegaard’s christocentric positive theology emphasising the mediation of Christ.
Chapter 3, provides an overview of Barth’s cultural, philosophical and theological context, highlighting the similarities between Barth’s and Kierkegaard’s challenging environments of idealism mixed with cultural Christianity, along with their corresponding countercultural theological approaches. As the Torrances summarise, ‘One of the fundamental points that unites not only Kierkegaard and Barth but also Bonhoeffer in challenging the culture and politics of their respective contexts is their shared opposition to all attempts to interpret God’s self-disclosure with reference to a predetermined system of thought’ (p. 126).
In chapter 4, the Torrances further explore a few implications of the so-called Kierkegaard-Barth Trajectory (KBT) that emerge from the manner in which God has established ‘kinship with humanity in time’ (Kierkegaard’s words), or, in Barth’s phrasing, ‘fellowship with humanity in history’ (p. 152). The Torrances repeatedly highlight Barth’s insistence on the appropriate directionality of thinking about any topic—whether ethics, theology, or anthropology—from the God made known in Jesus Christ then to the topic at hand. Thus, God’s establishment of kinship with humanity in time in Jesus Christ precludes material-spiritual detachment in socio-political decision-making, demonstrates God’s compassion and faithfulness toward humanity and definitively establishes a kinship relation between all human beings, along with the corresponding ethical implications.
Chapter 5, examines Barth’s appropriation of Kierkegaard. For example, the famous ‘infinite qualitative difference’ that Barth quotes from Kierkegaard in the second edition of his Romans commentary frees theology from anthropomorphisms and invites theologians into the proper task of theology, namely letting God interpret Godself to humanity through his revelation in Jesus Christ. Kierkegaardian conceptual terminology like ‘the moment,’ ‘divine incognito’ and ‘paradox’ provide Barth with helpful metaphors to elucidate the unity and distinction of the incarnation.
In chapter 6, the Torrances apply the KBT to the church’s engagement in the public square. Citing varied examples, including Nazi Germany, apartheid South Africa and racism in the American South, the Torrances illuminate instances when a priori assumptions about the ‘natural order’ have undergirded the church’s support of oppressive, racist and nationalistic agendas. In contrast, in Jesus Christ, God’s telos for the flourishing of humanity is made known. Followers of Jesus individually and societally are to reflect God’s vision for human relations revealed in Jesus, namely human flourishing, including for the poor, the sick, the elderly, the marginalised, the criminal and even those ‘whom society deems the worst of the worst’ (p. 294). The Torrances acknowledge that although this criterion does not necessarily lead to clear consensus on policy, it provides the proper foundational values for discernment.
In chapter 7, the Torrances extend the KBT to provide warrant for confident knowledge of and talk about God. Covering significant philosophical and historical ground, they traverse from God’s trinitarian self-disclosure in the Word of God through the anti-historical challenges of idealism and mythologising to the epistemic and semantic challenges of God-talk. They conclude that by God’s grace and the Spirit’s activity, sinful and finite humans are able both to believe in and to speak faithfully about the God who became flesh, joining the church through the ages in its direct witness-bearing to who God truly is.
Among its many strengths, the book provides accessible introductions to the context and teaching of theological and philosophical giants Kierkegaard, Barth, Hegel and more. In addition, the Torrances deeply apprehend Kierkegaard’s and Barth’s voluminous and dense teaching, which can be overwhelming to an untutored reader. Thus, they are able to provide accessible analysis and integration of the two theological projects that extend beyond semantics.
One minor critique is the distance the reader must traverse to discover a practical outworking of the KBT for engagement with society. It can leave the reader hungering for how to live, not simply how to avoid key methodological and philosophical missteps.
The Torrances illuminate in the KBT an alternative to the establishment of a point of contact with secular culture through an appeal to immanent qualities or values in all people. Instead, the God-man Jesus Christ discloses true humanity and calls Christians to live according to God’s radical love for the world, pursuing God’s vision for the flourishing of all. This provides an ‘incomparably relevant’ message to our ‘divided, dysfunctional, and threatened world’ (p. 362).
