Trinitarian theology after Barth

About this book

"Like the Dogmatics in which it is arguably the driving force, Barth{u2019}s doctrine of the Trinity is a magisterial but incomplete achievement. Why magisterial? Partly because of its sheer scale and artistry. Partly because Barth understood very clearly at a critical point in the history of Protestant theology that it is from Trinitarian teaching that Christian dogmatics derives not only the entirety of what it has to say about God, but also what it has to say about the relation of God and creatures; others before him in the modern Protestant tradition had let the doctrine of the Trinity loose in this way (Dorner{u2019}s seriously neglected System of Christian Doctrine is a case in point), but Barth did so with consummate skill and sense of occasion. Partly, again, because of the descriptive depth of what Barth has to say. Throughout the Dogmatics Barth exercised a capacity for astonished portrayal of the substance of Trinitarian teaching {u2013} not only in the doctrine of reconciliation, considered by many to be his most satisfying account of God{u2019}s triune being, but also in the early treatment in I/1 which, despite its stiffness at certain points, contains some of the finest passages of dogmatic writing Barth ever produced. .. Barth{u2019}s Trinitarian theology continues to be a commanding presence. The essays which follow, with, after and beyond Barth, testify both to the fact that interpretation of one of Barth{u2019}s doctrinal convictions is an open matter, and to the seemingly inexhaustible resourcefulness of what he has to say." -- Forward by John B. Webster.