Karl Barth as Theologian of Nature

To call Karl Barth a “theologian of nature” may seem like a stretch to those who know him as the great opponent of natural theology. This book argues that Barth's rejection of natural theology and the “orders of creation” does not impede his development of a robust account of creation's nature and order.

It makes the case, first, by tracing the development of his theology of nature from Romans I to the completion of his doctrine of creation in the Church Dogmatics. Second, it examines the ways in which Barth's doctrine of creation is shaped by his doctrine of election. Creation exhibits constant structures, patterns, and limits that are real because they are determined and ordered by our election as creatures in Christ. Third, a close reading of his ethics of creation shows that without this quasi-essentialist ontology of creation's nature, Barth's ethics of creation are unintelligible.

The book pushes interpreters to grapple with this quasi-essentialist understanding of creation's nature and order that animate even Barth's starkest “actualistic” moments. When Barth's theology of nature is given its proper due, the eudaimonistic essence of his ethics comes into full view.