What Does Barth Say about Human Dignity | Katherine Sonderegger
Lecture Title - Karl Barth on Human Dignity in a Natural World This paper examines the status and stature of the human in Barth's doctrine of creation and covenant. Barth clearly advances some strong claims for human uniqueness and dignity in his doctrine of creation. He interweaves covenant and creation, so that the doctrine of creation is shaped by human, historical aims and laws. He considers the human relation of encounter the imago Dei, and even more, that Christ in his incarnate life is the goal and pattern and agent of the whole of creation. But there are other notes as well. Barth minimizes traditional claims that the human being is especially prized as creature above others, or that rationality and inwardness are gifts to honor above all other creaturely powers. Barth is more open to biological continuity in the whole natural realm than many traditionalists, and shows more interest in embodiment than those who focus on mind-body dualism or strong accounts of a separable soul. Barth is also well known as a critic of all things bourgeois, and considered elevated claims to human culture and the moral life so much puffery and self importance. Katherine Sonderegger (PhD Brown University) is William Meade Chair of Systematic Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary. She is author of a three-volume series in constructive dogmatics published by Fortress Press: The Doctrine of God (2015), The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity: Processions and Persons (2020), and Divine Missions, Christology, and Pneumatology (forthcoming). The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world. Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Watch the HCTU on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HenryCenter Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter