"For Barth, atheism becomes an unlikely ally in this struggle. Insofar as atheism rejects the human-made religious constructs that mask themselves as theology, it serves a theological function—it exposes conceptual idolatry, stripping away the false gods that we create in our own image. The true theologian, then, must take atheism seriously, recognizing in it a necessary negation: the refusal to equate human thought with divine reality. God is not an object within human understanding but a disruptive, destabilising presence who breaks into the world from beyond.
Barth’s vision of theology is thus profoundly unsettling. It demands that we abandon any attempt to ground God in reason, experience, or tradition, accepting instead that true knowledge of God begins in the recognition of our own ignorance. Faith, for Barth, is not a matter of grasping divine truth but of being grasped by it—of encountering a revelation that overturns all our assumptions rather than confirming them."
Peter Rollins
“In Barth’s view, any attempt to comprehend or define God is an attempt to “humanize the divine, to bring it within the sphere of the world of time and things....”[482] But this accomplishes only a widening of the unbreachable gulf between us and God. We can’t put God in a box—not even if that box is labeled “religion.” God is not what’s contained in religion—”
“God is also what ruptures our political beliefs. Try to connect Jesus to a specific political party, and it’s eventually going to go bad; you’ll end up manipulated and deceived, manipulating and deceiving. What is going on in the name “God” can’t be reduced to any one ideology; if you try to reduce it to one, you’ll end up with nothing but projections of your own personal history. Or, perhaps worse, someone else’s history.”
Courtney Cantrell
Excerpts From
Appetite for Antithesis: (De)Knowing God in a Lenten Practice
Today, my inspiration doesn't come directly from Karl Barth... but from Pete and Courtney about Karl Barth.
After all my readings this morning, I pondered what the world would look like if John Lennon's imagination became reality... "No Heaven, No Hell, No Religion". According to Lennon, it was easy to imagine Earth with no Heaven, Hell or Religion. But does "God" still show up if Religion vanishes? That is the ultimate exercise in imagination. Is "God" the product of Religion, or according to Barth... beyond religion and only accessible when religion gets out of the way. Some would say that even embracing the idea of "God" puts you in religion's bubble.
I stalled at getting anything from Karl Barth when he opened up his discourse with these words. "…We know that God is... " Who is "We"? What does it mean to "know"? And who is "God", Karl??? That is why I just blanked out for the rest of the reading. He lost me. So many assumptions and I feel like the ass.
It's Day 29... and I am nearing happiness that I anticipate this AFL journey will be the last one. I am almost done trying to get any wisdom out of Old dead white guys that are trying to keep the character of "God" in the story while tossing out the book that the story is written in. Religion is the book. Religion is the framework that gives "God" structure and substance. Without Religion... "God" ceases. Maybe then the mystery of the cosmos is magnified and we would be left wondering. I don't see anything bad about that. That would be a world without answers, without conclusions, without certainty, without division, without wars, without.... It would be a world without... and humans will never let that happen, because humans can't live without and be satisfied... we only know how to live with. Even then... satisfaction is still beyond our reach.
