As in a Mirror. John Calvin and Karl Barth on Knowing God: A Diptych

by Cornelis van der Kooi

What does it really mean, to know God? What are the grounds for knowing God, what feeds that knowledge, and what is really known? In his search for answers to these questions, in two panels the author paints for us a clear picture of what Calvin and Barth had to say about knowing God: Calvin against the background of pre-modern culture, Barth in response to a post-Kantian culture inclined to agnosticism. Between them, like a hinge between the two panels, we find the philosophy of Kant. The two epochal theological figures are placed next to each other, but without this being at the expense of the power of either. The study does not stop with detached historical analysis, but nourishes the author's own reflection toward a systematic design.

496 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002