Beyond Anthropocentrism in Barth’s Doctrine of Creation
Searching for a Theology of Nature
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rsth.v28i2.175Keywords:
Barth, Doctrine of creation, anthropocentrism, election, theology of natureAbstract
The critique raised most often regarding Karl Barth’s doctrine of creation concerns its anthropocentric nature. However, Barth himself moves beyond the anthropocentrism for which he is accused. Barth is indeed anthropo-centric in that his creation/covenant thesis tends to present non-human creation as a means to an end, in his exposition of the Genesis creation narratives, in his christological focus, in his understanding of the covenant, and in his anthropocentric doctrine of election, which is foundational to his understanding of the covenant. Nevertheless, Barth does not completely neglect nature. There are insights within his doctrine of creation that might
be incorporated into a theology of nature, particularly that all of creation participates in the covenant.
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