Luther, Barth, and Movements of Theological Renewal (1918-1933)

Published by De Gruyter 2020

Luther, Barth, and Movements of Theological Renewal (1918-1933)

Edited by: Heinrich Assel and Bruce L. McCormack

Volume 188 in the series Theologische Bibliothek Töpelmann

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110612066

Overview
Contents

About this book

The essays contained in this book originated as lectures at an international conference held in Princeton organized by Christine Helmer (Northwestern) and the editors of this book.

This book itself illuminates in a fresh way the formation, cross-fertilization, break-up, and re-organization of movements of theological renewal during the tumultuous years of the Weimar Republic. Three Protestant movements, in particular, demand our attention: the dialectical theology (Karl Barth, Friedrich Gogarten, Rudolf Bultmann); the Luther Renaissance which found adherents amongst the students of Karl Holl (Hans Joachim Iwand, Rudolf Herrmann and Emmanuel Hirsch) and Lutheran confessional movement (Werner Elert and Paul Althaus). Attention is also given to Bultmann’s close conversation-partner Martin Heidegger. Rounding out the picture thus drawn is Martin Buber, representing the Jewish Renaissance that flourished briefly in the Weimar years.

The goal of this book is twofold: to trace the most significant developments that occurred within and across these movements and, most importantly, to assess the uses made of Luther’s theology in all phases of these developments and in relation to dramatically different sets of issues (ranging from the doctrines of revelation, reconciliation and sin to theories of the state). We find Luther at the heart of a number of debates. So important was he that the divergences between and within the various movements can rightly be seen as a dispute over his legacy.

Most of the theologians and philosophers treated in this book were educated in the pre-war years - and some at least of what they learned survived in a transfigured form the impact of the collapse of the Wilhelminian Empire. That is especially clear in the impact of the Jeiwsh philosopher of religion Hermann Cohen on K. Barth, R. Bultmann, and R. Hermann.

During the years of peace (prior to the stock market crash in 1929), divergences could be accepted with some degree of equanimity by most of those engaged in renewal. To be sure, tensions already existed which could, at any time, have led to splits within the dialectical theology most especially - but did not have to do so. The commentary of R. Bultmann on F. Gogarten’s Ich glaube an den dreieinigen Gott, which is published for the first time in this volume, gives vivid expression to these latent tendencies. For the time being, however, a spirit of cooperation and rigorous academic engagement prevailed. That changed with the onset of the Great Depression. After the national election held on 14 September1930 (which saw the National Socialists become the second largest party in the Reichstag, the fortunes of all movements were increasingly held hostage to the uses made of theology to devise theological accounts of the state which stood in differing degrees of support or open resistance to government policy. The result was a realignment of forces within church and theology

Author / Editor information

Bruce L. McCormack, Princeton Theological Seminar, New Jersey, USA; Heinrich Assel, University of Greifswald, Germany.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction Luther Renaissance and Dialectical Theology – A tour d’horizon 1906– 1935 Heinrich Assel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: Anticipations
Karl Barth on Kant’s “Biblical Theology” A Reading with Hermann Cohen Hartwig Wiedebach Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
The Religious A Priori in Otto and its Kantian Origins Jacqueline Mariña Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	39
Luther’s Lectures on Romans in the Work of Karl Holl, Rudolf Hermann, and Karl Barth Christine Svinth-Værge Põder Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
Part II: Parallel Movements
Barth’s Explicit Reception of Luther An Auxiliary Tool for the Study of Karl Barth Henning Theißen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
Martin Buber between Revelation and Scripture Claire E. Sufrin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
Luther and Mysticism The Case of the Seebergs and Vogelsang Volker Leppin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
Desperatio Fiducialis Barth and Bultmann on the Anthropological Significance of Revelation David W. Congdon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
Part III: Disruption
Theologia paradoxa, theologia crucis Heidegger’s Luther Hent de Vries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
The Man who became God or the God who became Man? The Concept of Revelation in the Theologies of Karl Barth and Friedrich Gogarten Bruce L. McCormack Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
Trinity, Incarnation, Political Theology Gogarten’s Luther between Luther Renaissance and Rudolf Bultmann Heinrich Assel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Werner Elert and Hans Joachim Iwand – Political Theology and Theology of the Cross Christian Neddens Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
Appendix Rudolf Bultmanns unpublizierter Kommentar (1928) zu Friedrich Gogartens „Ich glaube an den dreieinigen Gott“ (1926). Ediert von Heinrich Assel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	261
Index of Names Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Specialists and students in the field of Weimar history and theology
Pages
- Main content: 278
Keywords: Luther Renaissance; dialectical theology; Weimar history

eBook

Published: August 10, 2020
ISBN: 9783110612066

Hardcover

Published: August 10, 2020
ISBN: 9783110610901

Paperback

Published: July 18, 2022
ISBN: 9783110991550