Karl Barth is often credited with starting a revival of the doctrine of the Trinity in systematic theology. This paragraph comprises his first robust account of that doctrine. Already Barth closely associates the doctrine of the Trinity with the possibility of revelation, as well as with specifying the subject of revelation—that is, identifying the…

I preached this sermon on August 11, 2024, at St. Charles Presbyterian Church in St. Charles, Missouri. You can watch a video recording of the whole service on SCPC's YouTube channel. ========================= I write books. I run a blog. I have a YouTube channel. I teach. =========================By W. Travis McMaken

I preached this sermon on July 14, 2024, at St. Charles Presbyterian Church in St. Charles, Missouri. You can watch a video recording of the whole service on SCPC's YouTube channel. ========================= I write books. I run a blog. I have a YouTube channel. I teach. =========================By W. Travis McMaken

This is the 5th and final part in a series of adult education (Sunday School) classes that I taught at St. Charles Presbyterian Church (USA) in the early months of 2020. It provides a fairly thorough discussion of the Scots Confession's history and theology targeted (hopefully, effectively so) at the generally educated churchgoer. Part 5 continues …

Join me for a conversation with Dr. Ash Cocksworth (Twitter, University of Roehampton) as we talk about our recently released co-edited volume, Karl Barth: Spiritual Writings, in the Paulist Press Classics of Western Spirituality series. We discuss how Ash and I got to know each other and came to work together on this volume, what our favorite thin…

This is the third of what has been a three part series of adult spiritual formation / education (Sunday School) classes that I recently finished teaching at St. Charles Presbyterian Church (USA), here in March of 2022. The date for this particular recording was March 20, 2022. During this series, I lead discussion of the Revised Common Lectionary t…

This is the second of what should be a three part series of adult spiritual formation / education (Sunday School) classes that I'm currently teaching at St. Charles Presbyterian Church (USA), here in March of 2022. The date for this particular recording was March 13, 2022. During this series, I will be leading discussion of the Revised Common Lecti…

This is the first of what should be a three part series of adult spiritual formation / education (Sunday School) classes that I'm currently teaching at St. Charles Presbyterian Church (USA), here in March of 2022. The date for this particular recording was March 6, 2022. During this series, I will be leading discussion of the Revised Common Lection…

This is Part 4 in a series of adult education (Sunday School) classes that I taught at St. Charles Presbyterian Church (USA) in the early months of 2020. It provides a fairly thorough discussion of the Scots Confession's history and theology targeted (hopefully, effectively so) at the generally educated churchgoer. Part 4 continues exploring the ba…

This content lived on Youtube behind a privacy wall for a couple of years, but now I've released it into the wild. If you want to enjoy the video version, just click here. I talk about the martyrdom of Polycarp, an interview I once saw on TV between Stephen Colbert and Ricky Gervais, and why Christians need to have well-developed atheist muscles. =…

This is Part 3 in a series of adult education (Sunday School) classes that I taught at St. Charles Presbyterian Church (USA) in the early months of 2020. It provides a fairly thorough discussion of the Scots Confession's history and theology targeted (hopefully, effectively so) at the generally educated churchgoer. Part 3 continues exploring the ba…

The androcentric nature of Barth's language notwithstanding, in this section he addresses the human condition and the "contradiction" at the heart of our existence, as well as reflecting on how it can be that God encounters us in the midst of that contradiction as "the answer to our question" (Diktatsatz). This is part 5 of a multi-part series. You…

This is Part 2 in a series of adult education (Sunday School) classes that I taught at St. Charles Presbyterian Church (USA) in the early months of 2020. It provides a fairly thorough discussion of the Scots Confession's history and theology targeted (hopefully, effectively so) at the generally educated churchgoer. Part 2 gets into the background o…

This is Part 1 in a series of adult education (Sunday School) classes that I taught at St. Charles Presbyterian Church (USA) in the early months of 2020. It provides a fairly thorough discussion of the Scots Confession's history and theology targeted (hopefully, effectively so) at the generally educated churchgoer. Part 1 tries to answer the questi…

We return to Barth’s first dogmatics lectures, and to the elaboration of one of his key theological concepts – both in this earlier period as well as throughout his later Church Dogmatics, although there it recedes into the background a bit despite continuing to be of foundational importance: Deus dixit, God has spoken. This is part 4 of a multi-pa…

The Belhar Confession is about speaking the gospel in a time of rampant racial oppression. Those currents continue to run strongly in the USA, and the current COVID-19 crisis has only fanned the flames. The PC(USA)’s newest confession has much for us to hear in this moment lest the temporary social distancing necessary for physical help ultimately …

More on Barth’s first dogmatics lectures! This episode addresses the relationship between dogmatics and preaching. We get a number of Barth “greatest hits” – like an early form of his approach to the three-fold Word of God (revelation, scripture, and preaching), and his distinction between regular and irregular dogmatics. But the central issue is t…

I read a lot of books in 2019. Here are my top 5. Featured Books: Balmer, Evangelicalism in America Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom: Essays on Human Existence Hunsinger, Karl Barth and Radical Politics, 2nd edition Marable, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention Weinberg & Bealer, The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popu…

You're bored of hearing about the men of the Reformation. Get the scoop on some of the key Reformation women! Click here to access written and video versions of this content. ========================= I write books. I run a blog. I have a YouTube channel. I teach.By W. Travis McMaken

Continuing our dive into Karl Barth's first attempt at writing a dogmatics, this episode tackles the first section: The Word of God as the Problem of Dogmatics. He discusses what it means to think of dogmatics as a science, and we also encounter an early version of his doctrine of the three-fold Word of God (revelation, Scripture, and preaching). B…

Travel with me back to the early 1920s and Karl Barth's first attempt at writing a dogmatics. Launched while teaching at the University of Göttingen, this was the genesis of the material that would become Church Dogmatics approximately a decade later. What we call the Göttingen Dogmatics in English is especially interesting to me because it is much…

Dr. W. Travis McMaken and Rev. Dr. Nichole Torbitzky (both of the Lindenwood University Philosophy & Religion program) discuss Colin Gunton's book on Karl Barth and Charles Hartshorne - "Becoming and Being" - in an effort to help Barthian and Process theologians understand each other better. This is part 3 of a multi-part series. Lindenwood Univers…

This is an excerpt from an essay by Helmut Gollwitzer about Karl Barth and socialism. Available in video format. ========================== I write books! Check them out here. I run a blog! Check it out here. ========================== Excerpt source: Helmut Gollwitzer, "Kingdom of God and Socialism in the Theology of Karl Barth," in George Hunsing…

This is the third in a three-part series that I have done on How I Read John Calvin. Truth in advertising: Karl Barth makes an appearance (yes, again), but so does Francis Turretin! Hint: it's not predestination. You can access this content in video format.By W. Travis McMaken

I read a lot of books in 2018. Here are my top 5. The original tweet: https://twitter.com/WTravisMcMaken/status/1079844334571347970 Also on Youtube: https://youtu.be/JnJypQXwqEc Featured books: Taylor, “From BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation” – DET post: http://derevth.blogspot.com/2018/03/what-am-i-reading-keeanga-yamahtta.html Cone, “Martin & …

For this recording, David Congdon and I sat down (metaphorically) with Juan Torres for a wide-ranging interview about Dialectical Theology, universalism, religion and politics, and more. Juan Torres on Twitter David Congdon on Twitter Travis McMaken on Twitter Order Congdon's The God Who Saves Order McMaken's Our God Loves Justice This content is a…

In this installment I review David Steinmetz's book, Reformers in the Wings, and talk a bit about Reformation history and some of its lesser known figures. This content is also available in video, if you prefer. If you'd like to learn more about the Reformation, there's lots of material waiting for you at at DET (the theology blog that I run).…

Friedrich Schleiermacher is awesome. Lots of folks love to hate him, but I'm here to tell you that you should read him. In this recording, I discuss the 5th of Schleiermacher's speeches from On Religion. I've re-purposed a recording that I made for a class that I no longer teach. I hope you find it helpful or at least entertaining. This content app…

Rev. Dr. Nichole Torbitzky, one of my colleagues in the Lindenwood University Philosophy & Religion program, joins me to discuss Colin Gunton's book on Karl Barth and Charles Hartshorne - Becoming and Being - in an effort to help Barthian and Process theologians understand each other better. This is part 1 of a multi-part series. Follow Nichole on …

This is part two in a three-part series on How I Read John Calvin. It tackles the issue of whether it is possible - within the context of Calvin's theology - to know God on the basis of human rationality and observation of the world. Truth in advertising: Karl Barth makes an appearance.By W. Travis McMaken

This is the live recording of my presentation to the Karl Barth Society of North America at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Boston (2017), with a brief, informal introduction by George Hunsinger. Get my book on Gollwitzer here!By W. Travis McMaken

This is the first in a three-part series on How I Read John Calvin. Thanks to Joshua Torrey (Twitter: @JoshuaTorrey) for sparking the idea. At one point I say that McNeill published a selection of the Institutes; I should have said that Donald McKim did so. Elsie McKee's book is entitled, The Pastoral Ministry and Worship in Calvin’s Geneva (Geneva…

Rev. Dr. Nichole Torbitzky, one of my colleagues in the Lindenwood University Philosophy & Religion program, joins me to discuss Colin Gunton's book on Karl Barth and Charles Hartshorne - Becoming and Being - in an effort to help Barthian and Process theologians understand each other better. This is part 1 of a multi-part series. Follow Nichole on …

This is my interview with Rev. Kate Hanch about Julian of Norwich. We discuss Dame Julian's sociohistorical context, her doctrine of the Trinity, the metaphors that she uses for God and for Jesus, what texts you should read to get to know her better, and more. We also talk a little about what it means to be a Cooperative Baptist. Follow Kate on Twi…

David Congdon joins me as we provide an introduction to dialectical theology and announce the launch of the new Society for Dialectical Theology. If you would like to join the Society for Dialectical Theology, follow this link: http://bit.ly/2gbBblH Follow David on Twitter: @dwcongdonBy W. Travis McMaken

John Calvin was the leading Protestant reformer in Geneva, Switzerland, during the second generation of the Reformation. One of the founders of the Reformed / Presbyterian tradition, his theology remains highly influential for many people still today. In this episode, I answer some questions about all that.…

I read a lot of books in 2017. Here are my top 5. Featured books: (#OGLJ) McMaken, Our God Loves Justice Ch’en, Buddhism in China Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree Van Buren, Christ in Context Tillich, The Socialist Decision Prum, The Evolution of BeautyBy W. Travis McMaken