Karl Barth, Catholic Renewal and Vatican II

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From the 1920s on, Karl Barths thought was received with great interest not only by Protestants but also by Catholic theologians, who analyzed it in detail. This study outlines how and why this happened, especially in the period leading up to Vatican II. Dahlke shows how preoccupation with Barth's Epistle to the Romans and Church Dogmatics triggered a theological renewal among Catholic theologians. In addition to Hans Urs von Balthasars critical appropriation of Barths thought, the controversy surrounding the issue of analogia entis with Erich Przywara is also dealt with.

Reviews

Benjamin Dahlke's book concisely tells the previously unknown but nevertheless fascinating story of the intensive dialogue between Karl Barth and a rather varied group of German speaking Catholic colleagues. Parts of Barth's most attentive audience, it seems, came from a field that he himself looked upon with a curious mixture of suspicion, disdain and lively interest. Dahlke shows that conversing with Barth or criticizing his theology became one of the most striking phenomena of Catholic theology in search of reform from the 1930s to the 1960s. Dahlke's finely written book is in itself a history of Catholic theology on the way to Vatican II.' - Prof. Dr Leonhard Hell, University of Mainz, Germany -- Leonhard Hell
'The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification is a major ecumenical agreement whose theological rationale requires rigorous exploration for the future of Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue. In an exemplary manner Dr. De Witte offers such an examination which will contribute significantly to the ongoing debate about the Joint Declaration. Anyone interested in the contemporary church will discover this work to be indispensable, even if not everyone will concur with all of its conclusions. It is a highly important piece of scholarship.' - William G. Rusch, Yale Divinity School, USA -- William G. Rusch
In the first chapters, Dahlke offers the results of a sweeping survey of early Catholic readers of Barth. While some names of those who will Barth in this volume are well known...others remain more obscure... The reader is indebted to Dahlke for the detective work involved in restoring some of these voices to the wider theological conversation. He skilfully executes the brief biographical/historical introductions that set these figures in context, and that inform and engage the reader. -- Michael Anthony Novak, Independent Researcher * Theological Studies *

Author Bio

Benjamin Dahlke is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Catholic Theology, University of Mainz, Germany. Bruce McCormack is Professor of Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, USA.