For the first time in Ukrainian theological studies the holistic analysis of Karl Barth’s main works was made in the context of the whole set of factors that had made an impact on formation of his theological methodology. On the basis of a detailed analysis of English sources the role of Karl Barth as a key figure in the christian theology of the 20th century was examined and clarified. The research also reveals the complex of arguments in favor of perception of Barth’s fundamental heritage as one of the most influential and iconic phenomena in the whole history of christian theology along with Origen, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Friedrich Schleiermacher and others.
It was found out that for the proper understanding of his theological system it is necessary to realize the significance of Barth’s refutation and deconstruction of the liberal theology’s attempts to adapt Christianity to the rational discourse of Enlightenment Era, to take out its dogmatic core (doctrines of Christology and Triadology) based on the concept of God’s revelation, as well as to absolutize historical critical exegesis of the Bible on the same level with all other literature from Classical Antiquity. Having been taught by Wilhelm Hermann, Adolf Jülicher and Adolf von Harnack, Barth dedicated the rest of his academic career to prove the total impracticality and unsuitability of liberal theology’s anti-kerygmatic essence for the practical needs of the Church. It was proved that the fact that the liberal theology’s project was determined and made possible by a safe life of the 19th century bourgeois world. That’s why the socio-political disaster caused by the World War I put an end to the liberal theology’s optimistic expectations. Also the analogy is drawn between, on the one hand, Barth’s renewed perception of the Bible as a holistic God’s Word and a conceptual witness to God’s revelation (containing the human factor), and, on the other hand, traditional perception of sacred texts used by Church fathers in a Chalcedonian way – as an organic combination and unity of God’s and human components, while each of them is not supplanted by the other and doesn’t lose the fullness of its presence.
In the dissertation it is proved that Karl Barth reconstructed, renewed and reintegrated into protestant theological sphere of the 20th century the ancient orthodox tradition of interpreting the biblical text in the spirit of a radical Christocentric perception which had been characteristic of the ancient Church fathers as well as the founders of 16th century protestant reformation. It is revealed that Barth’s interpretation of biblical texts as a holistic Christocentric metanarrative found an imprint on all, without exception, individual fields of his theological system such as anthropology, Mariology, amartology, cosmology and ecclesiology.
The general conclusions and statements substantiated in the dissertation research can be useful and help (1) to overcome the fragmentation and disintegration which nowadays here and there take place in the theological field in the context of a dominant postmodern paradigm, (2) to facilitate the construction of common and mutually acceptable basis for the further interconfessional dialogue and (3) to help to consolidate and strengthen the conceptual Bibliocentric and Christocentric theories and practices either in academic theological studies, or in the whole life of the Church.
The results of this dissertation can be used as a foundation for further researches in the fields of theology, hermeneutics, biblical exegesis, philosophy, religious studies and the history of christian doctrine in the 19th and 20th centuries.
