Karl Barth on the irresistible nature of grace
Abstract
Few issues have been as divisive for the contemporary church as the doctrine of irresistible grace. In the debates surrounding this doctrine, there has been an overwhelming tendency for theologies of grace to focus on the effects that grace has on particular human beings. Alongside this tendency, there has arisen a danger that we forget that God’s grace is God’s grace; that it is God’s free, personal, and beneficent disposition and action. In this article, I turn to Karl Barth to consider a way forward for interpreting the irresistible nature of grace that does not focus on its effectuality but on its theocentric, participative, and covenantal character.
Citation
Torrance , A B 2016 , ' Karl Barth on the irresistible nature of grace ' , Journal of Reformed Theology , vol. 10 , no. 2 , 1 , pp. 103-128 . https://doi.org/10.1163/15697312-01002013
Publication
Journal of Reformed Theology
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1569-7312Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2016 Koninklijke Brill NV. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15697312-01002013
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