Throughout the history of Christian writing and thought one refrain that has echoed across the centuries is “the ground of my being.” This phrase has been used to express what serves at the core of people’s identity and understanding of God.
Many times those things that serve as the ground of our being are well-defined and intentional. They are the result of working out our faith with much fear and trembling. Other times, we are less certain where our foundation came from.
For Barth, Holy Scripture, as the revelation of God, is at the ground of being able to speak about God. Scripture is core and central and the foundation upon which one stands.
In defiance of much modern thought of his day, Barth is clear that revelation comes in Holy Scripture and not in “philosophical, ethical, psychological, or political theory.” [283]
This is not to say that Barth rejects all modern sciences. Not at all. In fact he writes that someone who speaks of God should have an education in “the thinking of the philosopher, psychologist, historian, aesthetician, etc.”
Yet, Barth advocates that we do not start with history or philosophy and then move to Holy Scripture. Instead, it is Holy Scripture that serves at the ground of our being and the other science help to give a greater understanding to God’s revelation.
No comments:
Post a Comment