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Definitive, Defective or Deft? Reassessing B arth's Doctrine of Baptism in C hurch D ogmatics IV /4
Author(s) -
McMaken W. Travis
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
international journal of systematic theology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.149
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1468-2400
pISSN - 1463-1652
DOI - 10.1111/ijst.12083
Subject(s) - baptism , doctrine , philosophy , interpretation (philosophy) , relation (database) , identity (music) , theology , epistemology , linguistics , aesthetics , database , computer science
K arl B arth's doctrine of baptism articulated in C hurch D ogmatics IV /4 is due for reassessment. Interpretation of this part of B arth's intellectual legacy has been conceptually determined by unresolved tensions within the R eformed tradition's sacramentology and by a widespread notion that Barth shifted from one side of this tension to the other over the course of his career. This article contests that notion and argues that Barth's doctrine of baptism is more sophisticated than often thought. By developing the concept of ‘paradoxical identity’ as a way to describe how Barth thinks about the relation between divine and human action, this article sheds new light on the value of Barth's work in C hurch D ogmatics IV /4.