"Jesus is Victor!": The Significance of the Blumhardts for the Theology of Karl Barth: 93 (Princeton Theological Monograph)

Description: IN THIS INNOVATIVE WORK Christian T. Collins Winn examines the role played by the Pietist pastors Johann Christoph Blumhardt (1805-1880) and Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt (1842-1919) in the development of Karl Barths theology. The disparate theological themes and dynamics of the two Blumhardts were crystallized in their eschatology and Collins Winn argues that as early as 1916 Barth had appropriated this Blumhardtian eschatological deposit in ways fundamental to his own theological development. Against the grain of current Barth scholarship this book establishes how the theology of the Blumhardts though critically reconstructed was not merely an episodic influence on Barths work. Instead the Blumhardts had a complex and enduring impact on Barth such that their imprint can be detected even in the mature theology of his Church Dogmatics. In treading new ground into Barths theological formation Jesus Is Victor! represents an important contribution to the field of Barth studies. Endorsements: Christian T. Collins Winn shows how the Easter message was the main issue in the whole theology of Karl Barth. The author makes it clear that Barth learned it in a free manner especially from both Blumhardts. And this book invites us to learn the same from those three prophetic theologians. --EBERHARD BUSCH author of Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts Interpreters of Barth have often acknowledged the influence of the Blumhardts (father and son) on the theology of Barth but they have not very often taken this suggestion seriously enough to expound the nature and development of his theology from this perspective. Collins Winn does this in Jesus Is Victor! and in so doing opens a new chapter in Barth studies. His mastery of the secondary literature is outstanding and he shows the profound influence of the Blumhardts at both the beginnings of Barths struggle to find a new path for theology and at the end as his theology found mature expression in the latter volumes of the Church Dogmatics. --DONALD W. DAYTON author of Theological Roots of Pentecostalism Little attention has been paid to the influence of the Blumhardts on Karl Barths theology. Collins Winn convincingly shows however that these Pietists have influenced Barths theology at key points in its development. Displaying a masterful grasp of his subjects Winn paints for us a portrait of both Barth and Pietism that upsets some long-held stereotypes. Those interested in Barths theology or Pietism cannot afford to ignore this book. --FRANK D. MACCHIA author of Spirituality and Social Liberation: The Message of the Blumhardts in the Light of Wuerttemberg Pietism A North American theologian has here ventured not only to study the numerous works of Barth translated into English but rather has even engaged with the mostly untranslated primary and secondary literature of the Blumhardts. The result is impressive. Collins Winn has focused his argument while keeping his horizons wide has carefully studied the primary sources and secondary literature and has provided subtly differentiated conclusions. And he has done this with a diction and idiom that makes the reading a delight. --DIETER ISING author of Johann Christoph Blumhardt Life and Work About the Contributor(s): Christian T. Collins Winn is Assistant Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Bethel University in St. Paul MN. He is the editor of From the Margins: A Celebration of the Theological Work of Donald W. Dayton (2007).