Introduction
Church Dogmatic refers to the works of Carl Barth on various doctrines of God. Theology has received a massive attention from researchers since the inception of formal learning. For a long time, various individuals have been concerned with the ability to understand God. God works in a special way.
It has been in the interest of many scholars to create a clear understanding of the values of God. It is also their concern to help explain how human beings should relate to God. Carl Barth was one of the scholars who dedicated his entire live in trying to explain how this relationship works by coming up with doctrines to help clarify the issue.
Theologians in the current society have increasingly found the work of this scholar highly valuable. The work of Pope Pius has had a huge impact on the current practice of many theologians, as his principles were found to be very relevant. Although there were times when his views were nearly forgotten, current scholars have revived them with a huge impact.
The works of this scholar are not only relevant to the Catholics but also to other religions. According to many contemporary scholars, the works of Carl Barth are important to both the Catholics and Protestants. This is because of the focus of the scholar. The focus of his works is on Jesus Christ. He strongly believes that all religious matters start with Jesus.
He observes that for an individual to understand Christianity, he or she must have an understanding of Jesus. Lack of proper understanding of Jesus would be a clear indicator that the individual lacks knowledge of the Christian religion. The second focus is on ethics. This scholar sums the teachings of Jesus as Ethics. Since Jesus knew that God works in an ethical way, he observed all religious principles. Jesus’ teachings were based on acting ethically.
When he was leaving the earth, he left only one commandment to be followed by all. The commandment was that people should love one another. This was meant to ensure that societies maintain ethics. When people develop love towards others, they maintain high ethical standards. Therefore, all other commandments would be automatically followed. This study seeks to unearth the assertiveness of the church as taught by Carl Barth.
Thesis Statement
Barth’s work was based on two fundamental factors, which are ethics and Jesus Christ. The work of this scholar is relevant to both the protestant and Catholic churches. This study is focused on analyzing his work and determining its relevance in the contemporary work.
Scholars in the contemporary world can utilize the views of Barth to bring about unity and understanding in society. Church wrangles are not good for Christians. Church leaders fight in the public implying that they serve their own interests. The views of Barth, particularly on ethics, can help in ending wrangles.
Need for Research
Theology is one of the most developed fields of study. It is through the guidance of the spiritual leaders that the peace can be maintained in the society. According to this scholar, religion plays a very important role in society. Some societies have been associated with certain acts because of the kind of religion they practice.
Therefore, a sound religious understanding based on the teachings of Jesus can help maintain cohesion in the society. According to the report by this scholar, as the number of theologians increase around the world, evil deeds also increase. Many people around the world are intolerant to the behavior of others.
The results are deaths and other atrocities committed against the innocent. The churches today are no longer speaking in the same language.
What one church upholds is exactly the doctrine the other church abhors. This has led to huge confusion in our current churches as leaders publicly disagree even on some fundamental principles. For instance, for a long time, Catholic priests have not been marrying. This has been one of the most important fundamental principles of this church. However, some of the catholic leaders have come out to oppose this principle.
This brings about a lot of confusion to church members who trust and believe in their leaders. The Bible talks about homosexuality, especially the cases of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, some leaders of the church support this behavior right inside the church.
This brings a lot of confusion. There is need for proper guidance in the church. The society should be guided by religious values regarding what should be done and what should be avoided. All these relate to ethics and the teachings of Jesus. Jesus gave a bar on how followers should behave.
This is what we need to emulate. Ethics and the teachings of Jesus have been brought out in the scholarly works of Carl Barth. It was therefore very important to undertake research in order to avoid current confusions and bring harmony in our current society.
It is important to shed more light on some of the fundamental issues in the church. Some church leaders are taking advantage of the confusion to introduce some habits that are bringing even further confusion.
Discussion
Carl Barth’s teachings were based on two main principles that closely guided his research work. This scholar was concerned about bringing a clear understanding of the forces around the world, which made people behave in a certain manner. He evaluated the relevance of people’s behavior in relation to the teachings of Jesus and the Bible’s message. Carl Barth went against some of the principles of renowned scholars.
In his first volume, he discussed the doctrine of Gog’s word. He tried to give the revelation of God. In God’s word, there was power. The word of God sets out to members of the church to help them in understanding the best practices in life. In the current society, it is very important to follow the word of God.
Failing to follow his word may lead human beings into many sufferings. In his second volume of the doctrines of the word of God, the scholar brings out incantation of God’s word. He explores the role and nature of the scripture. The scripture is the word of God because men of God wrote it after being inspired by God himself. In fact, Barth says that the authors of all the books in the Bible were writing the message given to them by God.
A clear point is the Book of Revelation. In this book, God himself revealed to John the activities that would take place before the world would end. The message in this book may be a little more challenging to understand because unlike other books talking about history, this book talks about the future.
It would only be through God himself that God’s servant, John, could understand the future. In Exodus 20, God talks directly to Moses giving him the Ten Commandments. It is a clear demonstration that the Bible is the word of God.
Given this fact, how then should we approach the bible? Some scholars have argued that there are some little contradictions between the old and the New Testament. Of point to note is the ‘eye for an eye’ law that existed in the Mosaic Law. This was quite contrary to the teachings of Jesus. Jesus teaches his disciples that they should forgive seventy by seven times when wronged by an individual.
How then would the same bible encourage forgiveness while there is a law that demands that the punishment should be meeting evil with an equal evil? However, Barth dispels these contradictions in his work saying that the followers should follow the teachings of Jesus. This scholar says that when such contradictions arise in any parts of the bible, the guiding light should be ethics. The bible is based on ethics.
Before acting in any given manner, the guiding light should be the ethics. In fact, this scholar argues that the bible has no contradiction at all unless one looks at it from a facial value. The bible records that during different times, there were different situations that demanded different actions.
Barth argues that those different moments called for different actions from people. When God gave the Israelites commandments in the wilderness and other laws, it was supposed to help them to manage the challenges in the wilderness.
This scholar notes that God gave the Israelites the power to kill their enemies. However, the commandments state that we should not kill. The message is clear and therefore it should not be interpreted differently. When he said that we should not kill, he was helping us to appreciate the fact that we should live as protectors of one another in society.
Procedure of the Study
This study focuses on the works of Carl Barth. Carl Birth wrote a number of volumes of books, each with different approach. In this study, the researcher has focused on two main principles that Carl Barth held in his teachings. The study will analytically evaluate the teachings of Carl Barth on Jesus and ethics and determine how they lead to the generation of other principles.
This scholar talks about the word of God, creation, and reconciliation among other principles. However, they all revolve around the two principles of Jesus’ teachings and ethics. This study will therefore relate the two main principles and the doctrines that this scholar bases his teachings on.
Barth’s View of Trinity
Barth’s work was considered revolutionary, given the then held beliefs. Barth’s work was a huge shift from what existed before. Many have considered the work of this scholar a little controversial. It has been very challenging to understand the arguments of this scholar concerning trinity.
By the time Barth started his work, trinity was not a new thing in the theological field. Several scholars had discussed it and many had given their view on the same. The work of Barth shows that he did not change the perception but gave it a new position. He gave trinity a front position in his work dubbed church dogmatic.
His modalism approach has particularly received massive criticism from various fronts. His perception towards the use of the word ‘person’ has been a shift from what had been the norm for a long time. He dismissed tritheism as a heresy and baseless reasoning that could not hold in the current society.
Barth argued that God is one, and therefore he should be referred to as a mode of being. This way, he argues that people will eliminate any misunderstanding among themselves, Christian scholars, and even the leaders.
Comparing Baths Findings and the Contemporary Thought of Knowledge
Bath’s findings have proven to be very relevant in the contemporary world. In the current society, many theological scholars have found relevance in the teachings of Carl Birth. Carl Birth emphasized on two main issues for his readers. The first one was Jesus. This scholar says that Jesus’ teachings should be the basis of learning for the current scholars.
He says that Jesus taught the word of God with an open mind. He holds that when understanding the teachings of Jesus, one should have an open mind. Religion should not be considered a burden. It is not meant to punish the believers by imposing retrogressive rules on the faithful.
The teachings of Jesus and religion for that matter are meant to help people live in peace. Religion explains how people should relate with one another to ensure peaceful coexistence. For this reason therefore, the current society should be weary of the religion that is oppressive.
Religion that dictates oppressive rules on its followers should be avoided at all costs. The religion should help people live peacefully and happily. In this regard, religion should not deny people happiness.
The second basis of Carl Barth’s work is on ethics. Ethics is the core of the religion according to the teachings of Barth. Religion and ethics are inseparable. Barth argues that religion teaches one to behave ethically.
In all the teachings of this scholar, he has emphasized the need for all societal members, especially the leaders, to maintain ethics in all their actions. It is important that a spiritual leader base his teachings on the ethical grounds other than on some of the Mosaic laws that have become archaic.
Some laws that were given to Moses during their journey to the Promised Land may not apply in the current world. It would therefore be important to ensure that ethics and religion are viewed as one.
Conclusion
Carl Birth was one of the greatest theologians in the twentieth century. His work has widely been considered very useful in the contemporary world. This theologian dedicated his life to writing books and other articles on various aspects of religion.
Church dogmatic is a comprehensive work done by this scholar about the church and its relevance to the society. This scholar based his work on two factors. The first factor was Jesus Christ. On this front, he held that everything starts with Jesus. The foundation would start with Jesus and then other factors would come afterwards.
Jesus is the rock upon which Christian religion is based. One may not understand Christianity without understanding Jesus himself. By understanding Jesus, one would be in a position to understand his principles and therefore the principles of Christianity. Ethics, according to this scholar, is not separable from religion. It is important to appreciate the fact that religion is an attempt to shape the habit of people.
The scholar holds that a careful analysis of the teachings of Jesus is based on ethics. He gave a lot of priority on ethical behavior, and never allowed any of his disciples to be swayed otherwise. A society that respects religion and maintains ethics is the one that would easily be prosperous and very peaceful.
It is important that as a Christian, and based on the teachings of Carl Barth, one should strive to understand the teachings of Jesus and relate them to ethics. As discussed above, there should be an effort to ensure that ethics and religion are blended.
It would be baseless to maintain a religious lifestyle without observing religious standards. In the society, the two are inseparable and therefore should be treated as one. This way, one would be in a position to lead a successful Christian life.
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