Theological Studies in Japan

Show abstractHide abstract

Karl Barth liest im Wintersemester 1925/26 in Münster „Die Lehre von der Erlösung“. Barths Kerngedanken in dieser Vorlesung lassen sich folgendermaßen zusammenfassen: 1. Diskontinuität und Kontinuität zwischen dem diesseitigen Leben in der Versöhnung und dem jenseitigen Leben in der Erlösung. 2. Ethik der eschatologischen Dringlichkeit und Zusammenhang von Gottesgedanken und Todesgedanken. 3. Theozentrische Fassung des eschatologischen Sieges über den Tod. Versöhnung und Erlösung gehören nach Barth zum einen Akt des einen Gottes in Jesus Christus und schaffen darum eine Einheit, ohne die Differenz auszulöschen. Wie das Wesen des Todes als der Sünde Sold nur durch die Offenbarung Gottes erkannt wird, so wird die Überwindung dieses Todes auch durch Gott allein verwirklicht. In der ganzen Eschatologie-Vorlesung begreift Barth die Erlösung des Menschen aus dem Tode streng christlich-dogmatisch, ausschließlich im Licht der Offenbarung Gottes. Aufgrund dieser streng theozentrischen Fassung der Eschatologie lehnt Barth die Lehre von der Wiederbringung aller Dinge ab.

View full abstract

Download PDF (1480K)

Though Augustine's view of the relationship between divine grace and man's free will has been one of the most controversial issues on his thought, there is still no consensus of opinion on it. His theory of grace was completed in Ad Simplicianum in 396, through the central idea “congruous calling”, which accomplished an intricate synthesis of grace, free will and predestination. The theory, however, has often been mistakenly understood as moral determinism. It is necessary to take into account the sequence of his works to interpret the point. In the same year, he also wrote De agone christiano, which emphasized the Christian struggle especially in the stadium of the heart. The next year, he began to write Confessiones, in which Augustine describes the conflict within his own mind in his conversion experience. It is worthless to dispute either grace or free will without concrete situations for each individual. Each man must confront the conflict through his own faith, but for Augustine, it was only grace that enabled man to struggle with himself.

View full abstract

Nishida's philosophy begins with grasping Reality since his first philosophical work, “A Study of Good” (1911). In this paper, I attempt to explore the problem of free will that is part of his studies of reality. He discusses the problem of free will in two phases. One phase is “action out of the ground of the self”, and another phase is “individual action of the self as an individual”. These two phase are also treated in “Self-conscious Realization of Nothingness” (1932) in which he began to discuss the historical world of Reality and Person as his proper theme. I would like to clarify relation between the two phases of free will by investigating the theory of Reality and Person in Nishida's philosophy.

View full abstract

Register with J-STAGE for free!