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WJK is proud to present this special collection of fourteen of Karl Barth’s World War I-era sermons— the only English language collection of Barth sermons preached between 1917 and 1920 when he was a parish pastor in Safenwil, Switzerland. This volume offers a fascinating glimpse into Barth’s interpretation of Scripture during a time of great historical significance. Renowned preacher William H. Willimon provides expert commentary on the theological and homiletical substance of each selection and points to the many ways in which Barth’s early preaching can enrich the work of preachers today. ... Read more

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Barth the Preacher
THE EARLY PREACHING OF KARL BARTH: Fourteen Sermons with Commentary by William H. Willimon.By Karl Barth and William H. Willimon. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009. Xvii + 171.

Preaching has changed over the years, whether for the good or ill is difficult to say. In an earlier day, at least as seen from reading sermons by the young Karl Barth, preachers demanded more of the listeners than is normally expected of someone sitting in the pews today. There is less emphasis on the "practical" and more on the "theological."

This book contains fourteen sermons preached by Karl Barth to the people of the small Swiss village of Safenwil between 1917 and 1920. They have been carefully selected by William Willimon, and translated by John E. Wilson. Barth began his pastorate in 1911, but the sermons come from the end of Barth's tenure in the pastorate - just before he left for a teaching post at Gottingen. They also come from an interesting period of European history - from the closing years of World War I through the immediate aftermath. It is a period of transition, marked by the Revolution in Russia - an event that is very much present in Barth's mind and preaching. Both the war and the revolution seem to represent the movement into a new age, where old paradigms no longer hold true.

The sermons represent Barth's period of turning from the liberalism of his theological training. Themes that appear in the Romans commentaries are present as well. As he preaches, his focus is not on anthropology, but Christology. His sermons point to the in breaking of the divine, the wholly other, into the world. His sermons, while not always strictly rooted in the text, seek to be true to the biblical message. He takes the bible seriously, and expects to hear from it a word from God. And yet at times the sermon, while theologically deep, seems oddly distant from the text itself. These are not, necessarily, expository sermons. But they do seek to connect with the text as touchstone.

These are very theological and even philosophical essays. As Willimon notes, his "preaching is counter to just about everything contemporary preachers have been told we ought to be in our preaching" (p. ix). They are challenging, even for the theologically trained, and so one wonders how they were received by Barth's original audience. Willimon does hint that Barth saw himself as a failure, so that does suggest he might have misread his congregation.

As one reads the sermons, one gets the sense of a change of ideas. There is a darkness that hangs over the sermons, a recognition that we as human beings are caught in the grip of sin. There is also that sense here, especially as the years pass, that God is truly "wholly other." We are unable to rectify our situation on our own, and thus we must turn to God for help, but we can't approach God unless God first approaches us - thus the strong Christological message. There is a strong protest here against "religion," which he famously saw as humans trying to climb their way to the hidden God. Thus, as one peers into his vision of the world and God's interaction with the world, one sees little of the optimism of an earlier Protestant liberalism, an optimism that seemed to think humanity was ready to remake itself on its own. The War had thoroughly shaken that sentiment from him.

This is a collection of sermons that preachers need to read simply because they stand as a protest against shallow preaching. Barth may not have been a perfect preacher or pastor. Indeed, he may have been a failure at both. We need not copy his style or his theology. But, Barth reminds - as does Willimon - that our job as preachers is not to mimic the self-help gurus in the pulpit. We are called to address the issues of life and death from a different place. While Willimon can be rather critical of Barth in his comments, and while he doesn't always believe that a sermon works as a sermon, and while does think that over time Barth's preaching did improve, Willimon believes that we can learn something important from Barth. Indeed, the essence of the message here is contained in this comment by Willimon attached to the final sermon in the collection:"Whereas it is popular today for purpose-driven, prosperity preachers to commend Jesus as the solution to our problems, the key to a happier life, and a technique for getting whatever it is we happen to crave, more than Jesus (Feuerbach ascendit!), Barth says that the only way to think such drivel is never to have met Jesus. The preacher has contempt for these who, by forgetting Jesus, contrive to make God 'accessible, inexpensive, cheap.' Ouch." (p. 153).


And Willimon notes that it's no surprise that Joel Osteen rarely refers to Jesus. Barth, on the other hand, is very much willing to put his focus on Jesus, and call us to a different kind of faith. The way of grace isn't an easy path. It doesn't involve a nice walk, but rather takes us on a narrow path, with only one possible path to take. There is no place to rest comfortably. Still, "we have no choice, but to keep moving forward on this way attentively, carefully and without stopping" (p. 123).

Willimon is to be commended for bringing to our attention this collection of sermons, for it allows us not only to see the flowering of Barth's theological imagination, but provides us a challenge as preachers to think deeply about the message we bring to our congregations. Are we willing to take a more difficult, costly path?

Barth for Today
How do you critique Karl Barth, one of the most important theologians of the 20th century, if not modern Western Christianity? You cannot, so I will simply leave this review to the translation and the commentary.

This is the first time that these sermons have appeared in English, and they are each one as powerful as the next. Translated by John E. Wilson, there is none of the translation clatter which might accompany the work. They read as natural in English as they would have been spoken in German. The NRSV has been used, unless Barth's translation is different than the English translation, and Barth's underlining of segments has made it through as italicized words.

What Willimon has done is to assemble Barth's early sermons, those given while he was still a 'country preacher' in Safenwil, Switzerland, into a contemporary commentary on our present society. Barth preached these sermons between 1917 and 1920, when the guns of war thundered across Europe, Socialism was on the rise, and much of the aristocratic structure of European society was being questioned. There was change in the air, and Barth as on the front of it.

In providing commentary, Willimon leaves Barth to his own devices, but reminds us of them. He sets the context for the readers of Barth, trying to bring us along side his listeners. He does set himself, though, as the object of many of Barth's sermons, examining himself in the light of the preacher's words. Sometimes, he admits that he simply has no clue where Barth is coming from - he doesn't offer correction - and at other times, he acknowledges that his 21st century American mind has a lot to do with it. Willimon handles Barth with respect, but not hero-worship.

This book is more than a collection of Barth's early sermons, but an examination into the 'youthful irony' of the man set in a world not unlike our own. It is an instructional book for young preachers, and in finding that Barth can speak volumes on a passage alone, I am left to wonder at my own dereliction of duty in not applying the text more instead of simply rearranging vast portions of the text. Willimon's commentary provides hard hitting thoughts, and can be used for devotional study in of itself. This book is simply a much, not only for admirers of Barth, but for preachers, ministers, and lay-Christians alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Brilliant but only marginally interesting
This is an example of Barth in his "too smart for us readers" mode.Instead of telling a poignant and interesting and perhaps moving story about a complicated family wrapped up in cold-war intrigue and general late-twentieth century angst and insanity, this is a book about books, and about writing.If you go in for that sort of thing you will love it.Far from being straightforward, the plotting is circuitous and completely unsatisfying;the shifting point of view is so consciously experimental that it is almost a joke on the reader.There is no doubt that John Barth is a lot smarter than most of us, and is a really brilliant writer and thinker.But his brilliance keeps this from being a fun or entertaining novel.If you like your reading experimental and self-conscious, by all means, pick it up! ... Read more

Product Description
By the author of THE SOT-WEED FACTOR and THE FLOARING OPERA. THE END OF THE ROAD is the story of Jacob Horner. On his 28th birthday, he decides that he has no convincing reason for doing anything. And that's what he does, nothing- until a strange black man who calls himself a doctor tells him about his case and prescribes teaching at Wicomico State Teacher's College as a cure. There he meets Joe Morgan, a young historian, and Rennie, his wife. Joe and Rennie have taught themselves to say goodbye to objective values. Jacob had none in the first place. This is the story of Jacob, Joe and Rennie. They are in love. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

5 stars for End of the Road!
This is by far my favorite Tom Bodett book. It's funny and puts you right there in the little town called End of the road. Fantastic book

Must have been a sensation in those times
I read it in 2007, i.e. more than 30 years after it was written, so it somehow may seem dated.
But the style is nice, peculiar, sometimes even funny and the issues must have been very hard and unheard in those times, so my advice is:
read it.

A finely tuned novel
This was Barth's second novel; if THE FLOATING OPERA was a nihilist comedy, this novel is a nihilist catastrophe, ending in a fatally botched abortion. Jake, an empty shell of a man, encounters the Morgans: Joe is a megalomaniac who requires an explanation for everything; his wife Renee is only what Joe wants her to be. (She enjoys horseback riding, which is symbolically apt.) An affair between Renee and Jake develops, almost at Joe's insistence. Disaster results. Barth writes extremely well, and the book is carefully constructed. There is much to chew on here.

Barth 102: An Introduction to the Master, continued
"The End of the Road" shares a central plot element (a love triangle) with Barth's first novel, "The Floating Opera", but in TEOTR the relationship is about as far from consensual as can be, and as a result TEOTR is a very different, even more powerful story.Barth crams a lot of substance into TEOTR, and it succeeds on multiple levels: as a compelling story with much for the reader to ponder, as a political statement (John Irving appears to me to have been inspired by the ending of TEOTR in his acclaimed "Cider House Rules"), and as applied philosophy, with religious undertones.

"In a sense, I am Jacob Horner," states Jacob Horner, the Barthian hero/anti-hero of TEOTR, at the very beginning of the story, but who is Jacob Horner (or whom does he represent)?Jacob Horner may represent the ultimate modern man, a person who rejects objective, absolute truths in favor of relativism, and who is so imbued with knowledge that he can see all sides of any argument, contradiction or paradox.At times Horner is completely paralyzed from acting, and at almost all other times his actions are timid to the extreme, such that he relies on "the Doctor", who prescribes nonsensical therapies to get Horner to take action, any action.Horner's thought process has many parallels in today's society, especially leaders who can't make up their minds and waffle on the issues.Horner suggests he may be the devil, but his logical thought process (his ability to see and accept opposite qualities in others, as in a love/hate relationship) suggests the "shades of gray", fuzzy logic thinking prevalent at all levels of modern society.

Joe Morgan, Horner's colleague, also believes only in relative values, and has even more formal education than Horner, but he has devised a philosophy which he believes tells him how to act in all situations.Morgan, whom Horner suggests may be God, is the "black and white" thinker in contrast to Horner's gray, but his philosophy has holes that become obvious to all but him at the end.

TEOTR, while not Barth's greatest work, is everything a great piece of literature should be.Barth creates fascinating characters drawn from the fabric of modern society, puts them through episodes of high drama, and produces outcomes that provide the fodder for debate about just what it all means.

Barth roars out of the starting gate
When you pick the book up you think to yourself, "There's no way this is John Barth" after all after holding the book for several minutes, your muscles aren't aching at all from the weight.Heck the novel is almost pocket sized.Yes, kids, early on Barth was reasonable concise in length (not that I don't like his longer stuff), at least for his first two novels (I think his third was the Sot-Weed Factor) so this makes a good place for novices lacking the stamina to jump right in.And actually for a first effort this is remarkably good and remarkably daring, considering that it was published in the late fifties.It's the story of Jake Horner, a young guy recently hired to teach grammar at a small college, and the infidelity he gets involved in with one of the other professor's wives and what happens because of that.The fairly standard story is completely changed by Horner's narration though.Cynical and uncaring, but somehow oddly admirable, Barth manages to make him seem almost likeable, even when his behavior verges on being that of a total monster (emotionally at least).His verbal sparring with his fellow professor Joe, who's outlook on life is equally extreme as Horner's is nonexistant (you could probably make a case and say that the story is existential in nature but I don't know enough about the philosophy to say for sure).But while the story remains at its heart a tale of infidelity, toward the end it takes a decidedly dark turn as Barth shows that everything has consequences.If the tone and nature of the story was daring for its time, its unsparingly frank view of abortion must have been absolutely shocking and even today is probably enough to turn people off.It shouldn't.While not his best book, it shows a master beginning to stretch his muscles (or at least realize he had muscles to stretch) and announced the entrance of a new literary talent with a voice that could be both uproariously funny and starkly grim all in the same story. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a unique contribution to the dialogue between the traditions of Eastern and Western Christian thought. Through the writings of Karl Barth and John Zizioulas, Collins creates an ecumenical dialogue about Trinitarian thought. During the last decade the doctrine of the Trinity and the concept of koinonia have been much in evidence in ecumenical contexts. Collins looks beyond the growing ecumenical consensus to examine the origin for the basis for the consensus, and suggests that it is possible to root it in Western thought as well as in Eastern Orthodoxy. ... Read more

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The Witness of God is a constructive revision of Trinitarian missio Dei theology. In it John G. Flett argues that the neglect of mission as a theological locus has harmful consequences both for understanding the nature of God’s connection with world and the corresponding nature of the Christian community. ... Read more

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From the back cover
"John Hart's careful unraveling of the relationship between Barth and Brunner performs two invaluable scholarly functions.It explores the reasons for their break in careful detail, and, while doing so, gives real insight into the deep theological drives and concerns of two apparently similar, but actually very different, thinkers."(Colin Gunton, King's College, London)

"Barth's 'No!' to Emil Brunner is well known, but the roots of it are little understood.It emerged from a relationship of nearly twenty years, on Brunner's side anxious for affirmation, on Barth's more and more wary.Brunner's enthusiasm for Moral Rearmament proved the last straw.Mining hitherto unpublished archive material, John Hart provides a fascinating analysis of the relationship of these two theologians, from the war years to their final break in 1934.His study throws light on the theology of the whole period."(Timothy Gorringe, University of Exeter) ... Read more

Product Description
It is arguable that one of the most serious obstacles to a proper appreciation of Barth's magnum opus is an inadequate grasp of the fact that the Church Dogmatics is a work of moral theology as well as of systematics. A failure to take this point seriously often lies behind critiques of Barth's theology generally, when he is accused of being abstracted from the world of human history and action. By reinterpreting Barth's work as an ethical dogmatics, Webster shows that such readings are all too often abortive from the beginning. ... Read more

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This work posits that while Karl Barth's theology cannot be reduced to a single theme, examining interrelated aspects of his thought should reveal common and recurring themes such as his concept of eternity and doctrine of Election, which lead to the centre of his understanding of God. ... Read more

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"Very few [photographers] have been successful inobtaining outstanding shots of warblers, and none has accomplished sucha superb level of quality photography for the range of warbler species thatMr. Schorre has been able to capture with his camera. . . . His study ofParulinae, represented in this volume, will certainly add to [his] alreadyconsiderable reputation as a photographic artist of the first rank."--from the ForewordWood warbler migrations every spring and fall are one of the most anticipatedhighlights of the North American birder's year. The warblers' frequentlycolorful appearance and distinctive songs make them especially attractivebirds to observe, but their quick, darting movements, often among the highestbranches of the trees, can make it difficult to tell one species from another.This book is a handy beginner's pictorial guide to the identificationof forty-nine wood warbler species that commonly nest in the United Statesand Canada. Barth Schorre's outstanding color photographs help you distinguisheach species. (Both males and females are usually shown when they differsignificantly in appearance.) An accompanying description gives each species'common and Latin names, average length, general range, relative abundance,and identifying characteristics. Schorre also briefly discusses the lifehistory and migratory patterns of warblers, the diminishing numbers of somespecies, and ways to attract warblers to your yard. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Worth it for the photography!
The most stunning photography of warblers you will ever see, bar none. The pictures are worth the price alone. The author lives on the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico and setup a blind with strobes near water in hisbackyard during migration. If you love warblers, buy this book.

Superb photographs
Schorre has taken some of the finest photographs of warblers ever seen.Unlike some of the other bird photographers, he has pictures of wild birds, not mist-netted or aviary warblers.A stunning achievement.Warblers are,next to rails, the hardest birds in North America to photograph, andSchorre has superb photographs of them including the rarest, most secretivewarblers. When reading this book, you can sense Schorre's passion for thesemost-beautiful of birds and for photography.

The photographs areaccompanied by some introductory information on each warbler and this bookwould serve as a richly illustrated guide to these birds. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more