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When future historians look back on the developments in theology over the course of the 20th century, there is little doubt that the name of Karl Barth will tower above the others as the most prominent and influential theologian. Yet, as recently as the beginning of the past decade, George Hunsinger was able to write with justification that although Barth is often acknowledged as the greatest theologian of the century, he has also "achieved the dubious distinction of being habitually honored but not much read."1 This has perhaps been particularly true in the English-speaking world.
Today, however, there is ample evidence of a revival of interest in the study of Barth. Books, articles, and dissertations on Barth's theology appear with great regularity; the Karl Barth Society of North America is flourishing; and the newly established Center for Barth Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary is promoting scholarly and ecclesial engagement with his thought. In the midst of all this activity, John Webster notes that the most important development has been that "Barth is read, and read in extenso."2
At least two reasons account for this resurgence of interest in Barth's thought. The first is simply the concern of historical scholarship to gain a more accurate conception of what Barth was in fact attempting to say in his work. Over the past 25 years, the Swiss edition of Barth's collected writings has made generally available a large quantity of important and previously unpublished material such as lectures, sermons, and letters. Of particular importance are the lecture cycles from the early years of Barth's career as a theology professor. The availability of these writings has led to significant revisions in the standard account of Barth's development, particularly the notion that he abandoned the dialectical thinking characteristic of his early theology. And this, in turn, has suggested new perspectives on the precise contours of Barth's mature theology contained in the Church Dogmatics.
The second reason for this renewed interest in Barth may be found in the new opportunities for theology arising out of the shifting cultural climate. Theology in the 21st century is in a state of transition and ferment brought about by the breakdown of the assumptions of the modern world spawned by the Enlightenment. Surprisingly and somewhat ironically, the thought of Karl Barth has come to be closely associated with the attempt to rethink theology after modernity. Indeed, the perceived affinity of Barth's theology with postmodernism has led some interpreters to suggest that Barth, who considered himself both a child and a critic of the 19th century, may find his greatest influence in the century to come.
How plausible is this new reading of Barth, and what are its implications for evangelical theology? With respect to the use of Barth's work to fund theological proposals that may be broadly construed as postmodern, we can identify two recent approaches: the nonfoundational "postliberalism" advocated by Yale theologians Hans Frei and George Lindbeck, and the postmodern themes of "otherness" and "non-givenness" espoused by Walter Lowe, Graham Ward, and William Stacy Johnson.
Postliberal theology is marked by two distinctive tendencies. The first is the rejection of philosophical foundationalism, the tendency to resist any attempt to find a neutral and ultimate vantage point from which to assess the truth and coherence of theological statements. This nonfoundational approach to theology leads to a second tendency, that of understanding Christian theology primarily as an act of communal self-description. The most significant figure in the development of the nonfoundational perspective in theology is Hans Frei, who was also, not coincidentally, one of the foremost Barth scholars in America. Frei's book The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative (1974) established him as one of the leading defenders of "neo-orthodoxy," a movement commonly associated with Barth's theology, during a period when its influence was at a low ebb in America. In Types of Christian Theology (1992), an edited and fragmentary book based on his lectures and published after his untimely death, we are able to glimpse Frei's understanding of Barth and his relationship to the developments in theology during the 20th century.
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