Theology

Edward van 't Slot

Negativism of Revelation?

Bonhoeffer and Barth on Faith and Actualism

[Offenbarungsnegativismus? Bonhoeffer und Barth über Glaube und Aktualismus.]

2015. XIII, 285 pages.

Dogmatik in der Moderne 12

89,00 €
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sewn paper
ISBN 978-3-16-153183-5
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Published in English.
What does Bonhoeffer's reproach of 'positivism of revelation' mean? Edward van 't Slot answers this important historical question and approaches the more systematic issue whether 'faith' should be regarded as a volatile act ('negativism of revelation'). He also analyzes the concept of 'faith' in the dialectical theology of Barth and Bonhoeffer.
What do those who believe 'have' when they 'have faith'? What traces does the experience of faith leave in the believer's existence? And can theologians assure that their studies will genuinely have something to do with 'the wholly Other'? Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945), operating within the framework of Karl Barth's (1886–1968) theology, addressed those questions in order to complete this framework. The ensuing dialogue between those great theologians affords us a deeper insight in fundamental concepts such as 'revelation', 'faith', 'christological concentration', 'analogy', 'church' and 'discipleship'. In this study, Edward van 't Slot reads this dialogue with regard to both its historical and its theological significance. He shows what Bonhoeffer means when he attacks Barth's 'positivism of revelation', and compares it with Barth's earlier 'negativism of revelation'.
Authors/Editors

Edward van 't Slot Born 1973; 2010 PhD; since 2001 pastor of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands; since 2014 Professor (by special appointment) for Systematic Theology and Church in the 21st Century at the University of Groningen.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3324-9932

Reviews

The following reviews are known:

In: Theologische Literaturzeitung — 142 (2017), S. 400–402 (Ralf K. Wüstenberg)