Up, Up and Away: Christian Kettler's Corpus and the Rise of 'Affective Barthianism'

Footnote

E. Jerome van Kuiken, "Up, Up and Away: Christian Kettler's Corpus and the Rise of 'Affective Barthianism': A Review Essay," Participatio 11: "The Priority of Grace in the Theology of T. F. Torrance" (2023), 213-228; #2023-EJVK-2

Bibliography

Van Kuiken, E. Jerome. "Up, Up and Away: Christian Kettler's Corpus and the Rise of 'Affective Barthianism': A Review Essay," Participatio 11: "The Priority of Grace in the Theology of T. F. Torrance" (2023), 213-228; #2023-EJVK-2

Publication life cycle / General notes

The corpus considered in this review essay consists of:

  1. The Vicarious Humanity of Christ and the Reality of Salvation (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1991; repr. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2010); #1991-CDK-1
  2. The God Who Believes: Faith, Doubt, and the Vicarious Humanity of Christ (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2005); #2005-CDK-1
  3. The God Who Rejoices: Joy, Despair, and the Vicarious Humanity of Christ (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2010); #2010-CDK-2
  4. Reading Ray S. Anderson: Theology as Ministry—Ministry as Theology (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2010); #2010-CDK-1
  5. The Breadth and Depth of the Atonement: The Vicarious Humanity of Christ in the Church, the World, and the Self: Essays, 1990–2015 (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2017); #2017-CDK-1
  6. The God Who Loves and is Loved: The Vicarious Humanity of Christ and the Response of Love (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2020); #2019-CDK-1
Abstract

For over thirty years, Dr. Christian Kettler has studied the doctrine of the vicarious humanity of Christ and its practical outworking in individual Christians, the church, and the world as a whole. This essay reviews Kettler’s six volumes on the subject and argues that their special significance lies in articulating an “affective Barthianism”: a fulsome account of Christian experience within a theology shaped by Karl Barth, T. F. and J. B. Torrance, and Ray S. Anderson. Kettler’s contribution thus overcomes the critique that Barthian and Torrancean theology eclipse Christian experience. The essay concludes with recommendations of further avenues of research for Kettler’s scholarly project.

Issue
The Priority of Grace in the Theology of T. F. Torrance