Synopsis "Karl Barth"
Description: In this creative and original book, Paul S. Chung interprets Karl Barth as a theologian of divine action. Chung appreciates Barth's dogmatic theology as both contextual and irregular, and he retrieves the neglected sides of Barth's thought with respect to political radicalism, Israel, natural theology, and religious pluralism. Endorsements: In this insightful and wide-ranging consideration of Barth for today, Chung reminds us of both the particularities of Barth's politicized theology and his theologized politics. Thereby Chung, in a properly Barthian mode and with the refreshing frame of a second-generation minjung theologian, demonstrates Barth's ongoing relevance for this politically charged and pluralistically cultured day. _Duane H. Larson, President, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, IA. Transversing both the German and the Anglo-Saxon scholarship on Barth, this concise and clearly written book shows how Karl Barth's theology, from beginning to end, contains a contextual dimension that is bound to disturb our all-too-comfortable dichotomies between dogmatics and ethics, the gospel of the church and the politics of this world. Writing from his Asian minjung liberative background, Dr. Chung has done a favor to both the student and the scholar, and to the legacy of Karl Barth. -Niels Henrik Gregersen, Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Chung demonstrates Karl Barth as a radical theologian with a convincing aptitude. I personally appreciate the kinship this independent reading has with my own footsteps, identifying Barth as a resisting theologian. -Prof. Dr. Peter Winzeler at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Author of Widerstehende Theologie: Karl Barth 1920-35. An ambitious and groundbreaking study, in which Chung makes a significant contribution to the renewal of Barth studies by combining methodological, biographical, social/political, and theology-of-religions perspectives.-Veli-Matti Karkkäinen, Professor of Systematic Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA. Chung's lucid study of Karl Barth's theology displays and mobilizes the power of Barth's thinking and praxis for present-day socio-historical biblical exegesis, including ecumenical, intercultural, interreligious, and liberating theology and praxis.-Prof. Dr. Ulrich Duchrow, University of Heidelberg, Germany. Chung offers an incisive interpretation of Karl Barth's relevance not only for contemporary liberation and political theologies but for Christian theology's engagement with Judaism and other religions. Especially intriguing is his reading of Barth's appropriation of Luther's Christology, a reading that roots the "liberative" dimensions of Barth's theology in God's humanity in Christ.-Lois Malcolm, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Luther Seminary. About the Contributor(s): Paul S. Chung is Assistant Professor at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa. He is the author of Martin Luther and Buddhism: Aesthetics of Suffering (second edition, 2007) as well as numerous articles.
