Repository logo
 

Divine Freedom and Revelation in Christ: The Doctrine of Eternity with Special Reference to the Theology of Karl Barth


Type

Thesis

Change log

Authors

Garton, Alexander 

Abstract

Christianity makes two fundamental but seemingly contradictory assertions: that the incarnation provides reliable knowledge about God but also that the incarnation was undertaken freely and thus need not have happened. The thesis explores proposed solutions to this tension between epistemological reliability and divine counterfactual freedom (the “epistemology-freedom debate”), building particularly from the work of Karl Barth and his use of the doctrine of election. After outlining the contemporary dispute between Bruce McCormack and George Hunsinger regarding how Barth underpins his solution metaphysically, I offer a fresh reading of the Church Dogmatics that, in contrast to both McCormack and Hunsinger, demonstrates how Barth’s theology serves as a promising foundation for a comprehensive solution to the epistemology-freedom debate. The key insight of this reading is that Barth considers being and act in God to be equiprimordial and mutually entailing. Nevertheless, I show that Barth’s theology is ultimately undermined by the doctrine of eternity within which it is framed, building on this conclusion to argue that the doctrine of eternity plays a much more decisive role in the debate than has hitherto been recognized. The thesis thus sets out to transform the epistemology-freedom debate by approaching it through the explicit lens of the doctrine of eternity, taking the classical (viz., Boethian) doctrine of eternity as the starting point. At the same time, since the thesis recognizes that Barth’s doctrine of election contains two promising motifs – the analogia temporalis and the identification of God as a being-in-act – I ask whether these motifs can be authentically derived from classical eternity instead. With particular focus on the works of Thomas Aquinas and Hans Urs von Balthasar, my analysis shows not only that this is the case but, moreover, that the classical explications of these motifs have major advantages over their Barthian equivalents. Furthermore, I show that this act of reading the classical doctrine of eternity against a Barthian background draws out a more temporal, dynamic interpretation of classical eternity than its typical characterization in contemporary scholarship, reframing and ultimately reclaiming it as a viable Christian understanding of God’s relationship to time.

Description

Date

2020-12-01

Advisors

McFarland, Ian

Keywords

Christian Theology, Doctrine of Eternity, Karl Barth, Metaphysics, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Epistemology, Divine Freedom

Qualification

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Awarding Institution

University of Cambridge
Sponsorship
St. John's College, University of Cambridge