From Religion to Christianity: Religion and Christianity in Karl Barth's Early Theology (1910-1920)

The thesis explores the different ways of understanding the relationship between religion and Christianity in Barth's theology from 1910 to 1920. The theologian Barth uses philosophy of religion as the framework and religion within culture as the starting point to understand Christian religion in the biblical tradition. However, the pastor Barth takes witnessing to the "kingdom of God" as his task and responsibility, and "biblical piety" as the starting point to understand religion in culture. This article suggests that Barth's different early understanding of the relationship between religion and Christianity not only reflects his criticism of religious thought in the liberal theological tradition but also involves his reconstruction of religious thought in the context of Christian theology. These two dimensions, moreover, form his basic ideas for discussing the question of religion in theology in his "Church Dogmatics".