Dialectical Theology as Theology of Mission: Investigating the Origins of Karl Barth's Break with Liberalism

Based on a thorough investigation of K arl B arth's early writings, this article proposes a new interpretation of dialectical theology as fundamentally concerned with the issue of mission. Documents from 1914 and 1915 show that the turning point in B arth's thinking about mission – and about C hristian theology in general – occurred, at least in part, in response to a largely forgotten manifesto published in S eptember 1914. This manifesto appealed to P rotestants around the world to support G ermany's cause in the war on the grounds that they would be supporting the work of the G reat C ommission. B arth's reaction to this document sheds light on the missionary nature of dialectical theology, which pursues an understanding of G od and G od‐talk that does not conflate the mission of the church with the diffusion of culture.