Barth's Dogmatics, §6, The Knowability of the Word of God

In this ongoing project, I am taking brief notes on Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics. My folks purchased the whole English-language set for me forty years ago, and subsequently I wrote my doctoral dissertation on a portion of Vol. III, part 2. See my December 2, 2018 post for Barth's overall plan for his series.

Paragraph 6 of the Dogmatics (pp. 187-247) is “The Knowability of the Word of God.” Barth’s summary is: "The reality of Word of God in all its three forms is grounded only in itself. So, too, the knowledge of it by [human beings] can consist only in its acknowledgment, and this acknowledgment can become real only through itself and can become intelligible only in terms of itself" (187).

In his book An Introduction to Barth’s Dogmatics for Preachers (Westminster Press, 1963), Arnold B. Come writes of this and the previous paragraph: "It is, of course, [human beings] who hear and know God. But the capacity is not to have or to hold God's Word but to acknowledge him. And this capacity is given [us] in the event. God's acknowledgment of [us] empowers [us] to acknowledge him..." (90).

Acknowledgment entails knowledge, and thus knowledge entails a relation of human beings to God and God's Word, and that Word comes to us according to God's free decision. On our part, we yield to God's authority and direction, in a genuine experience of God's Word as God makes Godself known (I:1, 205ff). In this section "The Word of God and Experience" and the previous section, Barth provides fascinating discussions with Thomism, Cartesian philosophy, as well as Schleiermacher.

Barth continues this paragraph:

"If we have understood that the knowability of God's Word is really an inalienable affirmation of faith, but that precisely as such it denotes the miracle of faith, the miracle that we can only recollect and hope for, then as a final necessity we must also understand that [we] must be set side and God Himself presented as the original subject, as the primary power, as the creator of the possibility of knowledge of God's Word. Christ does not remain outside. And it is true enough that [we] must open the door (Rev: 3:20). But the fact that this takes place is quoad actum and quoad potentiam the work of the Christ who stands outside. Hence it is also unconditionally true that the risen Christ passes through closed doors (John 20:19f)" (247).