Election, Barth, and the French Connection

Karl Barth's famous account of the doctrine of election in his mammoth Church Dogmatics has been described as the heart of his theology--a great hymn to the grace of God in Christ. He maintained that ""we must look away from all others, and excluding all side glances or secondary thoughts, we must look only upon the name of Jesus Christ."" God's election is primarily about his self-decision or self-determination, not about his election of individuals. In this book we discover Barth's fascinating French connection: pastor/theologian Pierre Maury (1890-1956); how his close friendship, and especially a paper he gave in 1936, helped stimulate Barth's reflection. In this book you will discover some never-before-translated works of Maury as well a revision of a previously published piece on predestination. Four theologians then reflect on their significance for us today from historical, textual, pastoral, and theological standpoints, and seek to draw conclusions for us in our contemporary setting, sixty to eighty years from their original composition. ""These translations and their accompanying interpretative essays not only provide an entry into Maury's theology and its relation to that of Barth, but also prompt fresh thought about the content and place of the doctrine of election in Christian thought."" --John Webster, Professor of Divinity, St. Mary's College, University of St. Andrews Simon Hattrell served as a missionary in France in the 1970s and 1980s, was Principal of the Tasmanian College of Ministries in Hobart, Tasmania, in the 1990s, and in his retirement coordinates distance theological education and training for the Anglican Diocese.