Table Of ContentNATIONS AND NATIONALISM IN THE
THEOLOGY OF KARL BARTH
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Nations and
Nationalism in the
Theology of Karl Barth
CARYS MOSELEY
1
3
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‘From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole
earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the
boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they
would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find
him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.’
Acts 17:26–27
Acknowledgements
This book started life as a PhD thesis submitted to the School of
Divinity of the University of Edinburgh back in September 2007.
I wish to express my thanks to my former doctoral supervisor
Dr John C. McDowell for his advice concerning the nature and
development of this thesis, for his enthusiasm for the project and
his patience in supervising my work. He showed a real grasp of the
importanceofresearchingandwritingonthepoliticaldimensionsof
Barth’s theology and ethics. I must also thank Professor William
F. Storrar who first accepted me to study for a PhD at the School of
Divinity of the University of Edinburgh, for his encouragement and
interestinmyworkbothwhenhefirstsupervisedme,andafterheleft
EdinburghforPrinceton.ThanksarealsoduetomyPhDexaminers,
Professor Timothy Gorringe and Professor Michael Northcott, for
making the viva a stimulating and enjoyable experience, and for
encouraging publication of the thesis as a book. I was glad they
foundit readablethen, but Ihave feltthe needto transform thetext
furthertobemoreproperly‘bookish’instyle,inthebestsenseofthe
term. Then, I must also extend my gratitude to the two anonymous
readerswhoreadthedraftssenttoOUP,alongwithmyeditorsTom
Perridge and Elizabeth Rowbottom, and all the other staff at OUP
whohaveenabledthisbooktocomeintobeing.Mycolleaguesonthe
academic and support staff of the School of Divinity, including
computingandlibrarystaff,havebeenunfailinglysupportiveduring
my period of study and subsequent employment at the School of
Divinity as British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2008–
2011).Theirsupporthasenabledmetocompleteboththisbookand
a second book also in the process of publication. The students who
were brave enough to take the Honours course on Karl Barth which
I taught at the School in 2008 and 2009 endured some of the
arguments put forward in this book, transformed into lecturing
material. They deserve a round of applause for making it through a
coursepackedwithdizzyingprimaryreadingsfromBarth,something
which prompted one of them to ask me early on, ‘what is Barth’s
question?’ This book attempts to show in an oblique way that for
Barth, the God of Israel became the questioner, and he the ‘great
Acknowledgements vii
question’ (as with Augustine). Books are never completed without
encouragementfromfriends.InthisrespectIthankMargaretActon
foradviceandsupportconcerningthecompletionofthethesis.Ialso
wish to thank Susan Allister for proofreading parts of the thesis.
Lastly I wish to thank my parents for their personal and financial
support throughout the time I have worked on this thesis. This
projectcouldnothavebeencompletedwithouttheirsupport.
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Contents
Introduction 1
ReadingKarlBarthacrossthefourfolddivisionofGerman
Protestanttheology 3
Nationalisminwesternthought:widerissuesinscholarship 9
Thepresentbook’scontributiontoBarthstudies 12
Planofthisbook 31
1. DisplacingPatriotism 33
SwisspatriotismasmediatorofChristiansocialism 33
ThebreakwithliberalProtestanttheology 43
RestoringtheSpiritofPentecost 49
2. DiscardingFalseFoundations 65
TheGöttingenyears 65
ThemovetoMünster 83
3. NationalismasIdolatry 98
Fromdogmaticstohomiletics 98
RespondingtotheriseofNationalSocialism 107
Dogmaticsagainstidolatry 117
4. Election,Nation,andState 134
ReworkingCalvinonelectionandthestate 134
ThetheologicalresponsetotheSecondWorldWar 142
Theethicalandpoliticalimplicationsofelection 149
5. EncounteringourNeighbours 169
Israelandtheprovidentialorder 169
NationhoodwithinthecommandofGod 176
Nationhoodaccordingtotheologicalexegesis 187
Conclusion 203
Bibliography 207
Index 217
