Analysis Of Karl Barth's View Of Divine Election

The Crux of the Thesis

Karl Barth’s view of Divine Election

As stated earlier, Swiss Reformed theologian, Karl Barth shared a strong and influential opinion concerning Divine Election. He was educated and pastored between Switzerland and Germany before investing great effort to teach theological topics. The theological support for the start of World War I motivated Barth to consider civilization unable to hear and obey divine command. As a result, he returned to scriptural study and composed works which “created a new situation for the Evangelical-Roman Catholic debate”. After thirty two years of writing Barth completed thirteen volumes of his theological manual, Church Dogmatics.

The second volume of this manual, The Doctrine of God, included

This manual methodically guides readers through a strategic calculation leading to Arminius’s conclusion concerning election. The process involves identifying divine decrees in the following sequential order; Initially, God decreed to appoint Jesus Christ to abolish sin with his own blood, Next, God decreed to favorably receive those who repent and believe in Christ and allow those refusing Christ to remain in sin and wrath, Thirdly, God decreed the means by which effective repentance and faithfully perseverance could occur, Finally, God decreed to save those whom he foreknew would believe and accept his son and damn those who would not believe or

Bath’s book, Church Dogmatics, explains that each individual election completes an opening up and enlargement of the closed circle of the election of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, Barth’s cryptic language even hindered the understanding of this author. A more clear declaration of Jesus’s involvement in election would illuminate Barth’s understanding. His writings had already proclaimed that Jesus was the beginning and end of salvation. In other words, Jesus’s death destroyed the bondage of sin but his sacrifice must be accepted. Therefore, Barth was able to communicate a perspective interweaving the strengths of the theories proceeding him in his notion of Christ Jesus to refute any support of