Description
About the book
Just as Karl Barth called on Christians to ‘eavesdrop’ on the world to freshly hear the Word of God in
unexpected places, so these essays reflect the author’s own eavesdropping on what are often unexpected aspects of Barth’s own theology. A mix of previously-published and new essays, the collection brings Barth into conversation with a range of contemporary theological and cultural issues.
Endorsements
Karl Barth surprises us in these essays. In his assured and probing readings, Thompson demonstrates the continuing generativity of Barth’s theology for diverse contemporary issues including the ecological crisis, relating to religious others, and living in a post-truth culture. Avoiding apologetic defensiveness on one hand and reflexive dismissal on the other, Thompson’s approach shows how Barth remains a resource for the self-critical, always unfinished work of theology.
Amy Plantinga Pauw
Henry P. Mobley Jr. Emerita Professor of Doctrinal Theology, Louisville Presbyterian
Seminary, Kentucky
Karl Barth, Geoff Thompson reminds us, encouraged theologians to ‘eavesdrop in the
world at large’, attending to it with curiosity and openness. And curiosity and openness
are precisely the ways Thompson engages with Barth’s theology in this beautifully written,
acute and insightful collection of essays. If you know Barth well, this book will still reward
you; and if you only know Barth a little, this book will lead you through key themes in his
theology leaving you wanting to learn more.
Stephen Plant
Dean and Runcie Fellow, Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge
Through various deep probes into Barth’s writings, chiefly the Church Dogmatics, Geoff
Thompson does something better than throw a few more essays onto the ever-growing
mountain of Barth scholarship: he asks how Barth, critically appropriated, can help us
address some pressing theological issues. Engaging questions of culture, other religions,
other creatures, the marginalized, the nature of theology, and more, Thompson’s illuminating
studies show how theology can be done with Barth, and not simply about Barth.
Douglas Harink
Professor Emeritus of Theology
The King’s University, Edmonton
About the Author
Geoff Thompson taught systematic theology, first at Trinity Theological College (Brisbane) and then
at Pilgrim Theological College (Melbourne). In retirement, he is an Honorary Research Fellow of the
University of Divinity. He has published widely on the theology of the Uniting Church in Australia, and is the author of Christian Doctrine: A Guide for the Perplexed (T&T Clark, 2021). His long-
standing interest in Karl Barth stems from his PhD (Cambridge, 1996) on Barth’s notion of Christ’s self-witness outside of the Church.
