Hunsinger - McCormack Debate Over Barth Continues

The debate over how to read Karl Barth continues with this latest article in Modern Theology by George Hunsinger called 'Election and the Trinity: Twenty-Five Theses on the Theology of Karl Barth' (April 2008), where he sets out why the traditionalist view of Barth (that he didn't change his mind that the triune God was prior to the divine decision of election) and the revisionist view (represented by McCormack, who argue that in Barth the Trinity is a result of election.

Comments

[Steve H]

Hey Andy,

To be fair, Bruce McC does not want to argue that 'the Trinity is a result of election'; rather, he wants to argue that in God's eternal will to be God, he wills in the same single act of decision both to be Father, Son and Spirit, and to be God for us, i.e., election.

Steve

[andy goodliff]

Thanks Steve, I'm still trying to get my head around some of these arguments. Good to see you back blogging.

[Keith]

Andy

actually McCormack argues both ideas in succession - he initially argues the idea outlined by Steve, then in a subsequent article he suggests that the argument you outlined might be a beneficial way to understand Barth's doctrine of election and God.

Hunsinger was responding to both, but focusing his response to the second.