RT Article
T1 Idolatry and Mystery: Karl Barth’s Protestant Doctrine of Mystery as a Challenge to Apophaticism
JF Journal of reformed theology
VO 17
IS 1
SP 46
OP 68
A1 Mannen, Sara
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2023
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1849741247
AB This article contrasts the accounts of mystery used to combat idolatry found in the theology of Karl Barth and in contemporary apophatic theology. It describes Barth’s account of mystery as distinctly Protestant in its soteriological nature and basis in contrast to recent apophatic accounts of mystery based on the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo. These divergent theologies of mystery—as either light or darkness based on different dogmatic res—ultimately reveal contrasting commitments in the doctrine of God. For both, Jesus Christ is the light of God’s gracious revelation. However, the movement in apophatic theology is from the light of Christ to the mystery of divine darkness, while in Barth’s theology Jesus Christ is the luminous mystery of God that dispels the Deus absconditus. This article argues that idolatry is better counteracted by Barth’s positive concept that mystery is grace and filled with content in Jesus Christ.
K1 Grace
K1 Jesus Christ
K1 Creatio ex nihilo
K1 Mystery
K1 Apophaticism
K1 Karl Barth
DO 10.1163/15697312-bja10038