George Hunsinger is Hazel Thompson McCord Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. He was director of the seminary's Center for Karl Barth Studies, 1997-2001. His books include How to Read Karl Barth (1991); Disruptive Grace: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth (2001); For the Sake of the World: Karl Barth and the Future of Ecclesial Theology (2004); Evangelical, Catholic, and Reformed: Doctrinal Essays on Barth and Related Themes (2015); and Reading Barth with Charity: A Hermeneutical Proposal (2015). He is also editor of Thy Word Is Truth: Barth on Scripture (2012), as well as the forthcoming Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth (2 vols.).
Karl Barth was one of the most important Christian theologians of the twentieth century, but his political views have often not been taken sufficiently into account. Beginning with a representative early essay by Karl Barth, this volume proceeds with essays by Friedrich-Wilhelm Marquardt, Helmut Gollwitzer, Hermann Diem, Dieter Schellong, Joseph Bettis, and George Hunsinger. These contributions engage both the relationship of Barth's theology to his socialist politics as well as Marquardt's analysis. This new edition expands upon the earlier one by adding three new essays by Hunsinger on Barth's theology and its relevance for human rights, liberation theology, and the theories of Rene Girard on violence and scapegoating. Hunsinger has extended the discussion as well as deepened our insight into how theology can speak meaningfully about fundamental issues of human need.