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Lecture notes for the entire year...

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Jan 9, 2018 -Barth was Swiss theologian, trained theologically and worked as pastor in Switzerland; was then in universities in Germany and expelled since didn’t recognize Hitler; then developed the church dogmatics where he laid what he thought Christian theology must be; -Rahner was Austro-German; Jesuit(order in Catholic church) founded in the 16th century; focused on education, in philosophy; to be a Jesuit needed seven years of education in philosophy and theology; most focused on St. Thomas Aquinas; he read Toaism through modern reflection; Rahner took Aquinas thoughts and revitalised for the modern world; one word that could be applied to Jesuits is RIGOR; Jan 10, 2018 -double space and full sentences, 12 point font; -to understand Bart need to understand Schleiermacher; Schleiermacher (1768-1824); known as ‘father of modern theology’; to understand him, need to understand the enlightenment; -enlightenment term used for the movement of European thought; they have identified the period of enlightenment(1685-1815) and the period of romanticism(18th to 19th) -PERIOD OF ENLIGHTENMENT-known as the age of reason; the superstitious period was before this period(MIDDLE AGES)/DARK AGES; the dark ages were known as the scholastic period; -prior to the enlightenment, man’s thought had been placed in subordination; the thought was that what was true was given by supernatural revelation, in the scriptures and the authority of the church; -the enlightenment shooed all of that; what led into the enlightenment was that nature followed laws that were perceivable by the human mind; mathematics played an important role since differential calculus made by NEWTON who discovered gravity; one could put numbers to natural phenomenon so one could establish patterns known as laws; ALLOWED FOR PREDICTABILITY; was thought if you could predict nature, then you can control it; this in the enlightenment period showed realistic capability that the human can deduce without supernatural help; there had to be some causation, that we can deduce ourselves; -furthermore the enlightenment; THE DOMINANT CHRISITIAN THOUGHT PRIOR TO 1700 was that humans by fallen nature were sinful; anthropology had a negative view and best described as the doctrine of ORIGINAL SIN; humans fallen by ADAM and EVE and so humans incapable of arriving at correct moral decisions, they will also react in a sinful manner; the only way they could do good is if they were granted the grace of GOD; THE THOUGHT WAS THAT WE CAN’T WILLFULLY TURN AWAY FROM SIN; -we were TABULA RASA, a blank slate and were effected by the environment they grow up in; there is a NATURAL law and then shifted that there is also a moral law within us known as CONSCIENCE; if we don’t, then something wrong with our education;

-IMMANUAL KANT, “Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. Self-incurred is this tutelage when its cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another. Sapere aude! [Dare to know!] "Have courage to use your own reason!" – that is the motto of enlightenment.” -this tutelage is saying that the humans must test the claims to authority and every human being has the ability to use their reason, and not rely on the authority of the church etc.; this led to the thought that there cannot be divine intervention, some became atheists, whereas others explained religion as human expression as long as they follow human conscience and nature laws; many of the ENLIGHTENMENT FIGURES began to understand the bible just as a historical book as the people(JEWISH) at a time and place(PALESTINE) and their beliefs; Schleiermacher thought this also -John Lock argued Christianity is best religion since it is the most reasonable religion;

-the DEISTS-they viewed nature as a watch that continually runs; GOD started the watch running and now it just runs by itself and has its own laws allowing it to continue; ONCE CLOCK MADE DON’T NEED GOD; - Schleiermacher born during this enlightenment and was alive during the ROMANTIC period; the enlightenment involved the understand of people by dissecting nature; TO DISECT IS TO DESTROY; the appropriate response for nature is to appreciate its beauty, a key part of the romantic period; so for the enlightenment period there is a push to touch, to feel, -had a shift from emphasis on reason, to emphasis on emotions; Schleiermacher was a combination of both reason and emotions; there is the anthropological turn; he argued that we cannot access GOD, we live in a universe cut off from him, can’t break through nature to see something beyond nature, all we can know is what we are, how we function and how the world functions; however, he concluded that if we look rigourosuly at the human, we will find out the human is fundamentally a religious being; -reason and conscience and then he added in the human religious impulse/feeling is as natural as reason and conscience; RELIGION IS AN INHERENT IMPULSE TO THE HUMAN BEING; this is expressed through a sense of dependence; he thought it was philosophically defendable since one of the natural things of humans is dependence, since INDEPENDENCE would mean we choose our own and don’t depend on anyone then wouldn’t have this dependent feeling; since we depend, we must depend on someone and that someone would be God; Jan 16, 2018 -all we could know about GOD was by studying the human condition; BASIC HUMAN HAD A SENSE OF DEPENDENCE; the enlightenment said that a person is made of REASONS and MORAL creatures; but Schleiermacher said that DEPENDENCE/RELIGIOUS BEING; termed this as GOD CONSCIOUSNESS and people push against this dependence/ don’t want to acknowledge it; and thus have a tension we are unable to overcome; we feel it and fail to act upon it; we want to express our identities but are always limited -for Schleiermacher, Jesus cannot be defined in some abstract sense; all we as humans can apprehend is the natural, the human experience, cannot apprehend the supernatural; SO ALL WE CAN SAY ABOUT JESUS IS HIM AS A HUMAN BEING; he did say Christ was the key to acquire full God consciousness; what did Christ have, that other human beings did not have; HE SAID THAT CHRIST IS THE ONE HUMAN BEING, WHO HAD FULL GOD CONSCIOUSNESS, DID NOT FIGHT AGAINST IT, HE ACCEPTED IT; HE SAID THAT JESUS WAS NOT FULLY GOD AND NOT FULLY MAN, WAS ONLY FULLY MAN; he had to learn to become a living adult just like us, but he did not ever reject his dependence of God; Jesus does not start off with our problem, within nature and being above it; JESUS WAS BORN WITH THE CAPABILITY TO HAVE A FULL GOD CONSCIENCE UNLIKE US; -THE REDEEMER IS LIKE ALL MAN IN VIRTUE OF THE IDENTITY OF HUMAN NATURE BUT DISTINGHUISHED BY THE POTENCY OF THE GOD CONSCIOUS WHICH WAS A VARITABLE EXISTENCE OF GOD IN HIM -Jesus had limitations but did not feel these because of the God Conscious. he accepted his limitations; -through Christs teachings, we can be brought towards a greater awareness of our dependence and our God conscious can be heightened; -main conception of perception of Christianity is love thy neighbour as yourself; dominant way Christianity was though of post Schleiermacher and it persists; THE KERNEL OF CHRISTIANITY IS LOVE; the rest of the other stuff in the bible are superstition; -LIBERAL THEOLOGY- bringing the Kingdom of God on earth and this can be done through love of thy neighbour; Ritschl (1822-1889) and Von Harnack (1851-1930)(he taught Bart) -Ritschl believed the stuff above; -von Harnack-realized bringing about justice and mercy to transform human societies so poor were fed, and everyone had a share of the good; CHRISTIAINITY WAS THE UNITY OF THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD AND THE LOVE OF THY NEIGHBOUR; HAVE THE COMPASSION OF GOD AND COMPASSION TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER; Jesus could not be described as divine;

-the NDP/CCF was based on this Liberal Theological; founder was a pastor; Tommy Douglas was also a pastor; -Bart said, that for Schleiermacher, one speaks about God meant speaking about humanity in a very loud voice; -one critic to Schleiermacher is that if dependence is the key, how are we different than dogs who depend on others; 17/01/18 -Bart said, “If I have a system, it is limited to a recognition of what Kerkecaard called the infinite distinction between time and eternity, and to my regarding it, as possessing negative as well as positive significance: “God is in His heaven and thou art on earth(Ecclesiastes)” The relation between such a God and such a man, and the relation between such a man and such a God, is for me, the theme of the Bible and the essence of philosophy. -there is a distinct difference between THE REALM OF MAN and the REALM OF GOD; there is not a bridge between the two; can’t look at the earth and know anything about God; Schleiermacher would say something similar but would focus more on the belief that there is a dependence and that person we depend on is God; -Tommy Douglas a Baptist minister brought about the SOCIAL GOSPEL MOVEMENT; the church is to bring the kingdom of god on earth through the law of love; this movement wanted it to be in political and social programs as well; in enlightenment period people began to believe that we ourselves can make our life better, and that the government could provide this; WE DON’T ALL HAVE ACCESS TO MEDICINE ETC SINCE THERE JUST ISN’T ENOUGH OF IT; so through technology we could make nature better and provide for sharing that all are entitled to, then everyone’s lot could be improved; THEY BELIEVED THEY COULD SEE IT IN THE WESTERN WORLD, MAINLY AMERICA; so wanted a political group who would focus on using the technology to improve the lot of every person; the true nature of the human being is seen in Christ; made in the image of God, gave us this possibility to rationale this world and make it better through love and mercy; -Bart, Swiss and born in 1886, taught by Von Harnack; and by a student of Ritchl; Germans dominated theological intellectual landscape in the 1800’s-1900’s; was taught a Protestant Liberal theologian, became assistant pastor in Geneva, then took a parish in Switzerland; there 24 to mid thirties; during that time changed his theological orientation; -WHY? took up position in 1911; was there during WWI; Germany first declared war; so the theologians were saying that the very greatest of human expression was being displayed but now the war happened; so one of the reasons Barth came to reject his liberal theological education was because he thought there had been a harmonization of human values with divine values; he saw human sinful human kind giving into SINFULLNESS and this was being approved by the theologians; Von Harnack and other of Barth’s teachers approved the war; he felt that Christianity could not approve a FORM OF AGRESSION; the other reason he rejected is was that he had no way to help the problems of his congregation; FOR THEOLOGY TO BE MEANINGFUL, IT MUST BE ABLE TO DEAL WITH THE PASTORAL NEEDS OF THE FAITHFUL; -so Barth began to read the Bible again and not just as a historical book but rather as a means if he could help his parishoners; ‘HE DISCOVERED THE STRANGE NEW WORLD WITHIN THE BIBLE……IN THE BIBLE, WE FIND NOT HUMAN RELIGION, NOT EVEN THE HIGHEST HUMAN THOUGHTS, JUST GOD’S WORD…..IT IS NOT THE RIGHT HUMAN THOUGHTS OF GOD BUT THE RIGHT DIVINE THOUGHTS ABOUT MAN. -the human nature by virtue of the fall(Adam and Eve) is sinful and incapable of knowing what is right and wrong, and cannot know God; THERE IS AN INFINITIE QUALITATIVE DISTINCTION BETWEEN God and man; trying to look for God, it will come to a wrong apprehension of the human itself; God is not created and the human is created but because of sin cannot even understand it; because of sin, humans will always see what they do as right; THERE IS NO WAY TO UNDERSTAND YOUR PROPER PLACE IN CREATION CAUSE YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW YOU ARE CREATED; so Barth says it can’t from below, but rather will come through PURE REVELATION; God reveals himself,

we can’t find him if we look, he revealed himself; HE IS INCOMPREHENDIBLE; LOOKING AT THIS WORLD CANNOT LEAD US TO FIND HIM; EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT HIM MUST COME FROM HIM ABOVE HIM; 23/01/18 -knowledge of God; REVELATION; -Barth thinks there is a distinctive difference between God and the created order; 1) God is utterly unknowable except in so far THAT HE REVELAED HIMSELF; we can’t know God without him first revealing himself to us; 3 points fundamental to Barth’s thought; 2) HUMANS ARE UTTERLY SINFUL; at least since the fall; all attempt to be there own GOD’s; human kind always acts to further its own self interests; always wants to be its own God; this means that the utterly transcended God, because of our fall, our attempts will be idolatry/false conception of God; not accessible because of human sin; said Adam and Eve had an intimacy with God/knowledge of God; but this was utterly lost when turned away from God; 3) God’s response to sin is NO: all attempts to come to knowledge of Him is has been corrupted by the fall; we are not able to realize the good in any way and for that we are under the judgement of God; without this final judgement, there could be no way to assert GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS; what we are must be realized and judged/condemned; -thought that the first WWI was the judgement of Western civilization trying to become one with God in the ground 4) God is merciful; He doesn’t just only say no but also says YES in particular way; the Yes is the incarnation; incarnation is revelation; HOW IS INCARNATION THE YES? because it is God’s nature joining with human nature but the incarnation is sinless; HE SAYS YES TO HIS SON INCARNATE; Jesus is the perfect human being, sinless; and when God sees Jesus in his sinless nature, he sees us; and since he says yes to Jesus, we are recipients; not a yes directly to us but since Jesus is ‘royal human being’ it connects to us; when God looks at Jesus he sees us, but when we look at Christ we see God; doesn’t mean that everything we do is good but because of Christ we have the possibility of forgiveness; INSPITE OF OUR SINFULNESS; -the name of love IS THE HOLY SPIRIT; the incarnation is in the past; THE ONGOING EXPRESSION OF LOVE IS THE HOLY SPIRIT; when we repent, it is the prior work of the Holy Spirit; -THE HOLY SPIRIT INITIATES BUT WE RESPOND TO IT; -Barth doesn’t like the Holy Spirit only attached to the sacraments; don’t assume that just because the church says so doesn’t make it divine; -the RCC had 7 sacraments but the reformers took it down to 2; -Barth says the incarnation is revelation; IT IS THIS BECAUSE GOD HIMSELF IS THE REVELATION; God is imminent from which he is absent; he doesn’t rise out of but come to; It is entirely unique; THE WORD INCARNATE; it is an action IN HSTORY performed by God; so the incarnation had an ending in the death of Christ; we have access THROUGH THE SECOND LEVEL OF INCARANTION WHICH IS SCRIPTURE; BOTH OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT; the bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit; is the Word speaking words through the Holy Spirit to the prophets and apostles; BARTH DID NOT THINK THE BIBLE ITSELF WAS INCARNATION BUT WAS RATHER A WITNESS TO THE REVELATION; the writers were spoken to by Jesus through the Holy Spirit but also did have limitations; did say the bible is fallible; within modern biblical studies the bible is studied as an HISTORICAL BOOK; is made of discrete bits and then when know those holes can further understand; Barth says yes this is a historical text that can be analyzed but always came to the conclusion where he doesn’t question the credibility of the Bible; said the Virgin birth could be defended just by biblical scripture; 24/01/18 THE TRINITY-1 god three persons; to affirm the Jews that Christianity is monotheistic; ‘mono’ meaning one and ‘theism’ meaning God; was trying to avoid tritheism; the Greeks would say that Christians are tritheistic; Scheliermacher would explain this that no thing can be three parts and one part all at the same

time so would just say that the trinity is just an historical standpoint for individuals at a point of time; Newton believed in God but not in the Trinity; Barth uses Matthew 28:19, ‘Go baptize all in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; it means that all three are of the same GRAMMATICAL value; the grammatical equality; HAVE A REFERENCE TO THE THREE SUPPORTS THE TRINITY; CAN FURTHER SEE THE TRINITY IN THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST IN MATTHEW(see all three since voice of God, son in River Jordan and dove as holy spirit) AND IN 1 CORINTHIANS 13:13 SEE ‘FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE’ CORRELATE TO THE FATHER SON AND HOLY SPIRIT IN CHAPTER 12; ALSO IN 2 CORINTHIANS 13:13 SEE THE TRINITY AGAIN; 30 Jan, 2018 -the general definition of Trinity is: 3 PERSONS IN ONE SUBSTANCE(BEING); being is the greek, substance is the western -how can you say something is three and one and one and three; NO LOGICAL EXPLANATION TO THIS; -one tendency to explain this was that 1) the son is not fully divine; ONE GOD AND THEN NOT DIVINE SON; under the term SUBORDINATIONASIM; this was said by ARIUS; he was a creature; something created by God, but still a special creature; THE THREE WERE NOT COEQUAL IN THIS EXPLANATION; 2)the other tendency was to diminish the Threeness; the Son and Holy Spirit were modes of the father’s being; KNOWN AS MODALISM but also known as SABELLIANISM; they are just agents/devices that God uses for a time/occasion and after that time they are withdrawn; Athanasius of Alexandria; was responsible for the Church’s decision that the SON WAS OF ONE BEING WITH THE FATHER; important word is HOMOOUSIOS; appeared in the council of Nicea; Homoousios means of one being; WHEN YOU SEE THE SON, YOU SEE THE FATHER; this is based on that CHRIST SAVES; since the Bible says that; BUT ATHANASIUS SAID THAT ONLY GOD CAN SAVE; 1) so only the original creator must come and recreate; and also only the judger is the only one who can lift judgement on human kind; also only the immortal(God) can allow for immortality of humans/can’t die 4) also in our fallen state, only way we can know God is by God revealing himself to us; SINCE JESUS SAVES, HE MUST BE ONE WITH GOD; THE CHURCH DECIDED THAT THIS WAS THE WAY TO DESCRIBE THE TRINITY -applied the same logic to the Holy Spirit; LIKE THE SON, IN THE BIBLE, THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES SALVATION, SO THE HOLY SPIRIT MUST BE FULLY DIVINE; -all three are necessary for entry into SALVATION; for entry into life with God; -was approved in CONSTANTINOPLE; Arianism persisted in other parts of Roman expire -other important individual was Augustine; he lies behind the formulation, three persons in one substance; WHAT WORD WOULD WE DESCRIBE THE FATHER SON AND HOLY SPIRIT? for Augustine, he said they are PERSON’S; the Greek’s didn’t like it since thought of as mask/appearance; -WHICH THE LOVER? THE FATHER; THE BELOVED IS THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE FLOW OF LOVE BETWEEN THEM; -Barth said this wasn’t a complete picture of it; Augustine said memory, understanding and will for Barth was a better way; you need all three; but in human beings all are faulty, and out of sync so lead to improper results; they must always be acting together, they are ONE; the knowing is one thing but it is also three; -there is no instant in which God is not acting as Father, son and Holy spirit; they are not three parts God, they are one God; -memory, understanding, and will are not ‘persons’; criticism of this though; 1) memory, understanding, and will are not agents as Father, Son and Holy spirit, but rather they are activities of the mind; 2) the

father, son and holy Spirit lose their distinctiveness; many argued that Augustine severely argued that he only looked at the oneness; even Thomas Aquinas argued for this oneness; 31/01/18 -is more Christo than theos; every doctrine has to do with Christ; -for God to be God, what attributes does he have to have? must be omniscient; omnipotent; omnipresent; -why must we fear God? because is the ultimate moral judge; a human cannot be omnipresent since EMBODIED; since God omnipresent he is not embodied(incorporeal); God is not composed in time; he is eternal; he is infinite; God does not die; God has life in himself whereas we have been given ...