June Book Notes

Ward, Karl Barth On Religion: A Critique

Welcome to the June edition of Book Notes! This month’s selection invites us into spirited theological debate, sharp philosophical analysis, and the enduring task of discerning truth through the lens of faith. A word about posture: Reading is not always an act of agreement. Sometimes we engage books precisely because they challenge us, unsettle us, or strike us as wrongheaded. But the task of the reviewer is not to flatten disagreement into caricature. Even when we take issue with a book’s conclusions—as I do this month—it is essential to represent the author’s argument faithfully and generously, allowing it to speak on its own terms before offering critique. Only then can our theological conversations remain grounded in integrity, charity, and truthfulness.

In Karl Barth on Religion, philosopher and theologian Keith Ward offers a penetrating, chapter-by-chapter engagement with Barth’s explosive claims in Church Dogmatics I/2, where Barth defines religion itself as humanity’s futile attempt to reach God, and revelation as God’s radical contradiction of all such attempts. Across nine chapters, Ward walks us through Barth’s arguments with critical care and theological defiance, making this book both a lucid guide and a bold counter-narrative to Barth’s account of religion.

Thesis: Revelation as Rejection (and Rewriting) of Religion

Ward begins the book by describing his own reaction to Barth—shock, alienation, and intellectual resistance. For Ward, who has spent decades immersed in philosophy, comparative religion, and theology, Barth’s sweeping dismissal of world religions is not just theologically stringent—it’s ethically troubling and pastorally tone-deaf. Still, Ward acknowledges that Barth is not writing religious studies; he is constructing a theological account rooted in God’s self-revelation in Christ.

In Barth’s view, religion is humanity’s self-justifying projection, a “wilful and arbitrary” construct that revelation must sublimate, not fulfill. Religion, in this schema, is not the ladder to God but the very illusion that God must shatter to speak truly. For Barth, faith is a miracle, not a human capacity.

Ward, however, pushes back: Christianity does not need to reject all other religious forms to affirm the uniqueness of Christ. Such a rejection risks denying the universality of grace itself.

Chapter Summaries and Major Themes

1. Revelation as Sublimation
Ward unpacks Barth’s claim that revelation “sublimates” religion. That is, revelation doesn’t build upon religious aspiration—it negates it and transforms it. Barth’s rhetoric here is fierce: religion is demonic, arbitrary, and faithless. Ward critiques this intensity and wonders whether it leaves any room for human culture, desire, or moral striving as real points of contact with the divine.

2. Barth’s Theology of Religion
Barth begins theology not with human experience but with divine speech. Revelation is a pure gift, unrelated to any religious predisposition. Faith is “knowledge by acquaintance,” not rational assent. Barth explicitly rejects natural theology and comparative religion as grounds for theology. Ward explains this well but remains critical: the price of Barth’s theological purity is too high—it cuts theology off from human reason and plural experience.

3. The Revolt Against Liberalism
Ward traces Barth’s rejection of 19th-century German liberal theology, including Kant, Schleiermacher, Harnack, and Otto. For Barth, Jesus Christ is not the expression of religious longing but the divine interruption that contradicts all religion. Ward sees value in this Christocentrism but criticizes its dogmatic narrowness. Is God truly absent from all other traditions?

4. The Nature of Revelation
Revelation, in Barth’s hands, is unilateral. God speaks; humans do not respond so much as receive. Ward offers comparative examples from Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam to suggest that divine disclosure can take many forms. He argues that Barth universalizes a particular Reformed experience as the only legitimate mode of faith.

5–7. Revelation Against Religion; The Failure of Religion; The Failure of Philosophy
These chapters form the argumentative core. Barth views all religion as faithlessness and all religious striving as vanity. Religion is the human evasion of grace, not its anticipation. Philosophy fares no better—Barth dismisses it as speculative idolatry. Ward criticizes Barth for painting with too broad a brush and for failing to recognize the sincerity and depth of other traditions, including those that emphasize grace (such as Pure Land Buddhism). He finds Barth’s vision theologically reductionistic and ethically untenable.

8. Religion and Truth
Ward critiques Barth’s use of “true religion.” He argues that “truth” is best applied to propositions, not complex traditions. Barth’s analogy between the “true religion” and the “justified sinner” breaks down: a guilty person can be forgiven, but a false statement cannot become true by grace. Ward insists that many traditions may contain truth without being infallible, and that truth should be assessed across traditions, rather than being quarantined within one.

9. Universal Grace
In the book’s most constructive chapter, Ward presents a theology of universal grace. Drawing on Japanese Buddhist traditions, he argues that non-Christian religions can be channels of divine grace, even if they don’t use that language. He insists that if God is truly loving and just, then God must be at work in all places where justice, compassion, and wisdom are sought.

Here, Ward sounds almost Barthian in method but not in conclusion: Jesus Christ may be the fullest revelation of God’s grace, but that grace is not restricted to Christianity. It flows wider and deeper than human doctrines can map.

Strengths of the Book

• Accessible and Engaging: Ward writes clearly and directly, making even complex theological debates accessible and engaging.

• Philosophical Rigor: The book is deeply informed by epistemology and comparative religion.

• Constructive Theology: Ward doesn’t just critique Barth—he offers an alternative rooted in grace, humility, and interreligious understanding.

Limitations and Tensions

Ward is occasionally too quick to dismiss Barth’s theological logic. He underplays the seriousness with which Barth wrestles with revelation as a disruptive, not additive, reality. And while Ward defends pluralism, he doesn’t fully account for its own internal tensions, especially around questions of normativity and divine particularity.

Conclusion: Holding Judgment and Grace Together

While Barth’s early treatment of religion in Church Dogmatics I/2 is undeniably severe—casting all religions, including Christianity, as faithless attempts to grasp God—his later work offers important correctives. In Church Dogmatics IV/3, for example, Barth acknowledges that there are “other lights” outside the Christian tradition, though derivative of Christ’s singular light. He also stresses that God’s election in Christ is for all humanity, not just a sectarian few. These gestures, while not amounting to a theology of religious pluralism, reflect a deepening awareness in Barth of God’s universal grace. Still, his core conviction remains: revelation is not a refinement of religion but its contradiction—and its redemption. Engaging with Barth on these terms, even critically, presses us to ask whether we are prepared to let God speak a word that might unsettle even our holiest assumptions.

Final Thoughts

Karl Barth On Religion is not simply a critique. It is an invitation to think more carefully about the limits and possibilities of theology in a pluralistic age. Ward honors Barth’s seriousness while refusing to echo his exclusivism. The result is a book that challenges, clarifies, and ultimately calls the reader to a deeper, more generous vision of grace.

For those interested in Barth, theology of religions, or the philosophical foundations of faith, this book is a rewarding companion. It reminds us that even the most powerful theological claims must be examined in the light of both revelation and reason, and that grace—if it is truly grace—must be wider than we imagine.

Until Next Time!