Videos for the 2018 Markus Barth Conference

Now up are a series of videos about Markus Barth, son of the Swiss Theologian Karl Barth, who was great NT Theologian in his own right, from the 2018 Princeton Symposium on Markus Barth.

I’ve always admired and enjoyed the work of Markus Barth. He was ahead of the game on so many areas: Paul within Judaism, pistis christou debate, importance of resurrection in the NT, a theology of baptism and the Lords’ Supper, great studies on Ephesians. I lament that he’s so neglected!

Everyone in Paul studies must read his article  “Jews and Gentiles: The Social Character of Justification in Paul,” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 5 (1968): 241-67.

You can listen to some of Markus Barth’s lectures on Ephesian and Colossians in audio.

Here’s some of my favourite Markus Barth quotes:

Markus Barth – Lord’s Supper is about Jesus’ Death AND Resurrection

Markus Barth – On Justified by Faith

Markus Barth – On Paul and scripture.

There’s a great Markus Barth bundle available at Logos.

“One of the advantages of having Markus Barth as one’s model teacher is that his style was so unique that it was impossible to imitate him, as other students have tried to imitate the styles of their favourite teachers. One had to develop one’s own style, with the aim of making a similar impression on one’s students: namely the impression made by Markus’ committment to Scripture as the Word of God, his dedication to thoroughness, and his obvious joy in discovering new things in Scripture. I sometimes tell my classes how he answered a student’s question at Dubuque as to why he did not open his classes with prayer: He said he made no sharp distinction between his exegetical work and his prayer life”.

“At the Divinity School [i.e. Chicago], he represented a challenge to the old, Chicago liberalism for which that school was famous. The Divinity School News reported on a congenial, but vigorous discussion between Barth and Bernard Loomer, an advocate of process theology … the significance of Markus’ appointment to the Divinity School was emphasized by one student’s blunt question: ‘Why did the school appointment Dr. Markus Barth to this faculty?'”

“During my first year there, the Biblical Colloquium involved graduate students and Bible faculty in a year-long study of Romans, and the exchanges between Barth and Robert Grant, who represented significantly different approaches to interpretation, offered young scholars a great learning experience. The open forums at his home that year were no less stimulating; we worked our way through Bultmann’s New Testament Theology during those evenings.”

“After breaking a lance with the Bultmannians [Kasemann’s review of Barth’s doctoral dissertation Der Augenzeuge was savage]; serving a pastorate in Bubendorf, Switzerland; and publishing a tome on baptism, Markus was called to teach New Testament at Dubuque, Iowa; at the University of Chicago; at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; and finally to succeed Oscar Cullmann in his beloved home town of Basel, Switzerland. It was in Chicago in 1962/63 that something of a theological parousia occurred in my own life, when not only did Markus Barth – primarily through his weekly theological evenings ‘at home’ – become my own mentor, advisor, and ‘spiritual father,’ but Karl Barth himself came to the University of Chicago in 1962 to deliver the lectures which became the beginning of Evangelical Theology: An Introduction and to speak with us students at Markus’ ‘at-home’ that week”.