The divine moment| Eternity, time, and triune temporality in Karl Barth's "Church Dogmatics"

• Main Author: Edwards, Mark James
• Language: EN
• Published: Princeton Theological Seminary 2013
• Subjects: Metaphysics|Philosophy|Theology
• Online Access: http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3565304

<p> This dissertation argues that Karl Barth's revelational and trinitarian language and logic of eternity and time, as found in the <i>Church Dogmatics, </i> gives eternity its own unique and perfect triune temporality. It is argued that Barth presents a continuum between the trinity of God <i> ad intra</i> (termed the Triune Moment) and the election of God <i> ad extra,</i> such that eternity's pure divine time is the archetype and prototype for created world time. Barth's theological treatment is juxtaposed to traditional accounts of eternity as timelessness in philosophical theology and to his earlier <i>Epistle to the Romans</i> (<i>Der R&ouml;merbrief </i>). Plotinus's <i>Enneads,</i> Boethius's <i>Consolation of Philosophy,</i> and the analytic philosophy of Brian Leftow's <i> Time and Eternity</i> are used to exemplify traditional metaphysics. The explanatory power and entailments of Leftow's Quasi-temporal eternity and Barth's trinitarian account are compared regarding divine omniscience and the status of creation in eternity. It is argued that metaphysical accounts of eternity find their methodological justification in an analogy of being (<i>analogia entis</i>) and through notions of a perfect being. It is argued that Barth's dialectical and trinitarian account of eternity in <i>Church Dogmatics</i> II/1, &sect;31.3 <i>The Eternity and Glory of God</i> finds its epistemological justification in Christ's Easter resurrection as detailed in <i>Church Dogmatics</i> III/2 &sect;47.1 <i>Jesus, Lord of Time.</i></p>