Fully Alive: The Apocalyptic Humanism of Karl Barth

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University of Virginia Press, 2022 - Religion - 218 pages

Living through an apocalyptic time, Swiss theologian Karl Barth influenced Christianity in the twentieth century profoundly. He publicly rejected Hitler's Nazism, advocated on behalf of workers and laborers, and ministered to prisoners. Barth was named by Pope Pius XII as "the greatest theologian since Thomas Aquinas" and in 1962 even appeared on the cover of Time magazine. In Fully Alive, one of America's best and most provocative theologians, Stanley Hauerwas, demonstrates that Barth's radical theological perspective is particularly relevant and applicable to the challenges of our own time.

Hauerwas argues that Barth's engagements with the social and political struggles of his day can help us see what it means to be fully human in the twenty-first century. The ecclesiastical and the political were inseparable for Barth; similarly, Hauerwas shows why it is crucial for theological claims to produce insights that make it possible for our lives to be well lived. Including chapters on race, disability, and the church in Asia, Hauerwas shows how Barth's political theology can be read as a training manual that can help us maintain our humanity in a world in crisis.

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About the author (2022)

Stanley Hauerwas is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law at Duke Divinity School. He is considered one of the world's most influential living theologians, even appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Hauerwas has published extensively, including his book A Community of Character, which was named among the one hundred most important books on religion in the twentieth century by Christianity Today.

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