Christ and Adam: Man and Humanity in Romans 5

por Karl Barth

Editorial:

Wipf and Stock

, 2004

Overview

In this essay, Barth discusses the relationship between Christ and Adam as understood by Paul. Moving beyond traditional exegetical and theological scholarship done on Romans 5, Barth offers an entirely new interpretation of the concept of humanity presented in Paul’s view of the Christ-Adam relationship. A valuable contribution to the interpretation of Romans 5, ‘Christ and Adam’ is also an example of Barth’s exegetical method and provides insight into his broader theological project.

Key Features

• Featues a key title from Karl Barth
• Examines an important topic from a Reformed twentieth-century perspective
• Provides biblical exegesis combined with deep concern for theological orthodoxy'

Contents

Top Highlights

“Death is not so much God’s direct reaction against man’s sin; it is rather God’s abandoning of the men who have abandoned Him.” (Page 29)

“In believing in Him they are acknowledging that when He died and rose again, they, too, died and rose again in Him, and that, from now on, their life, in its essentials, can only be a copy and image of His. It is He who is God’s love toward them, and when this love of God is poured forth in their hearts through the Holy Spirit, that can only mean that He is in them and they in Him—and that happens quite independently of any prior love toward God from their side.” (Page 13)

“The result of sin is to destroy human nature, the result of grace is to restore it, so that it is obvious that sin is subordinate to grace, and that it is grace that has the last word about the true nature of man.” (Page 31)

“It was inevitable that God’s chosen people, to whom He gave the Law, should achieve nothing but the final and absolute pleonazein (abounding) of the sinfulness of man.” (Page 58)

“Paul does not go to Adam to see how he is connected with Christ; he goes to Christ to see how He is connected with Adam” (Pages 34–35)

About Karl Barth

Karl Barth (1886–1968), a Swiss Protestant theologian and pastor, was one of the leading thinkers of twentieth-century theology, described by Pope Pius XII as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas. He helped to found the Confessing Church and his thinking formed the theological framework for the Barmen Declaration. He taught in Germany, where he opposed the Nazi regime. In 1935, when he refused to take the oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler, he was retired from his position at the University of Bonn and deported to Switzerland. There he continued to write and develop his theology.

Barth’s work and influence resulted in the formation of what came to be known as neo-orthodoxy. For Barth, modern theology, with its assent to science, immanent philosophy, and general culture and with its stress on feeling, was marked by indifference to the word of God and to the revelation of God in Jesus, which he thought should be the central concern of theology.