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hat does it mean to be
human? Karl Barth tackles this question with a unique twist. Whereas many
anthropologies turn inward to define man philosophically from the inside out,
Barth argues that true man is discovered only by turning our gaze outward to the only real man: Jesus Christ. What
follows is a brief explication of his six irreducible criteria for anthropology
as acquired from the revelation of Jesus Christ.
It should be noted
that Barth presents these general characteristics with some qualification because
he does not think that Christology and anthropology have an exact one-to-one
equivalency.[1]
Due to Christ’s divine nature, there is exists some mysterious relationship
between his identity with God and his true humanity. Nevertheless, Barth argues
that we can “know indirectly who and what we are from the fact that we live in
the same world and have the same humanity as this man.”[2]
So, holding that epistemic qualification in mind, we now turn to Barth’s six
irreducible criteria.
Barth’s first
essential quality of humanity deals with God’s direct presence with man. If one
looks closely at the man Jesus, it quickly becomes obvious that this man was
“confronted immediately and directly with the being of God.”[3]
Barth does not leave any room for a general theory of God’s presence with man.
In Jesus he finds the elements of God’s decision for relationship with man in
an undeniably purposeful and personal way. In Jesus, God has eternally
determined to present himself to man in a meaningful way. Therefore, real man, as posited in the “priority”
of Jesus, exists most truly in this direct relationship to God.[4]
Secondly, Barth argues
that true man exists as a player in a
particular history with God. Indeed, the man Jesus is himself “conditioned” by
the reality of God’s work in him to reconcile all men to himself. Therefore,
“every man…must exist and have his being in a history which stands in a clear
and recognizable relationship to the divine deliverance enacted in the man
Jesus.”[5]
This perspective removes the ability for man to somehow define his own
relationship to God. God is already
about reconciling man to himself and real man is the respondent partner to this
Divinely initiated covenant relationship received through the man/God Jesus
Christ.
The third element of
true humanity for Barth reckons with the relationship between man’s existence
and God’s glory. He argues that ultimately the “being of every man…is not an
end in itself.”[6] In
God’s action towards the man Jesus, we find a God who is completely
self-determined and sovereign in his self-revelation. He willfully chooses to
descend to humanity and take upon himself the nature of man. In this act of
humility, he proves himself to be most glorious. So, insofar as any man
participates in the same humanity that Jesus had, he also exists for the “true
determination” of the glory of God.[7]
The fourth essential aspect
to Barth’s theological anthropology deals with the issue of God’s sovereignty.
Looking at Jesus, Barth finds a man who fits absolutely square within the nexus
of God’s lordship.[8]
There was never a time when the man Jesus failed to exist under the sovereign
will of God or refused to bring his actions into humble submission. Barth understands
from this the principle that true
man, insofar as he exists as a being with the same humanity of Jesus, will also
exhibit life under God’s lordship. Barth sees this as setting clear boundaries
around what human freedom can mean. However one might understand human freedom,
“it cannot consist in freedom to escape the lordship of God.”[9]
Barth’s fifth
essential criterion seeks to deal directly with the problematic topic of human
freedom. He argues that if the being of
Jesus exists “wholly in the history in which God is active as man’s Deliverer,
then necessarily…the being of every man must consist in this history.”[10]
Therefore, man’s freedom becomes a freedom to respond to the work of this
Deliverer. God has already determined his being in relationship to man and now
man must respond to the grace offered to him.[11]
On this model, freedom become less of a capacity to do whatever one wishes and
more of a grace-filled response God’s action. On this model, choosing anything
opposite of what God’s will is becomes a sort of un-becoming or
self-contradiction.
Barth concludes his
analysis of human nature by arguing that true
humanity exists for God.[12]
Jesus
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à
la
man was greater than all
other creatures because he existed solely to do the work of God; his life was
filled by doing things on behalf of God (i.e. ushering in the Kingdom, speaking
God’s word to others, etc.).[13]
Interestingly, Barth highlights the fact that “being for God” in this manner is
only possible because God previously willed to “bind himself to man” in Jesus.[14]
Insofar as all other men are truly human, they respond to God’s initiation in
this covenant relationship and offer themselves to his service.
Whatever other things
might be true of man – and Barth concedes the possibility of other things – they
cannot be understood apart from these six essential characteristics. These are
the boundaries stones that cannot be moved. These are the theological lenses
that must influence the interpretation of all other phenomena of man.
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