Emil Brunner: A Reappraisal

by Alister E. McGrath

Renowned theologian Alister E. McGrath presents a comprehensive intellectual history of Emil Brunner, the highly influential Swiss theologian who was instrumental in shaping modern Protestant theology. Explores Brunner's theological development and offers a critical engagement of his theology. Examines the role that Brunner played in shaping the characteristics of dialectical theology. Reveals the complex and shifting personal and professional relationship between Brunner and Barth. Delves into the reasons for Brunner's contemporary neglect in theological scholarship. Represents the only book-length study of Brunner's works and significance in the English language.

Genres: Theology, Biography

264 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Alister Edgar McGrath is a Northern Irish theologian, priest, intellectual historian, scientist, and Christian apologist. He currently holds the Andreas Idreos Professorship in Science and Religion in the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, and is Professor of Divinity at Gresham College. He was previously Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education at King's College London and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture, Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford, and was principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, until 2005. He is an Anglican priest and is ordained within the Church of England.

Aside from being a faculty member at Oxford, McGrath has also taught at Cambridge University and is a Teaching Fellow at Regent College. McGrath holds three doctorates from the University of Oxford, a DPhil in Molecular Biophysics, a Doctor of Divinity in Theology and a Doctor of Letters in Intellectual History.

McGrath is noted for his work in historical theology, systematic theology, and the relationship between science and religion, as well as his writings on apologetics. He is also known for his opposition to New Atheism and antireligionism and his advocacy of theological critical realism. Among his best-known books are The Twilight of Atheism, The Dawkins Delusion?: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine, Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life, and A Scientific Theology. He is also the author of a number of popular textbooks on theology.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful and easy-to-read book that describes a forgotten modern theologian in simple language. This is no easy task, but despite the complexity of Brunner's thought McGrath truly made me realize how amazing Brunner was. I also hope that scholarship vindicates McGrath's claim that Brunner is not really dependent on Barth, but merely represents a parallel development in theology. Everybody go get a copy of Justice and Social Order before you say anything else political.

[Ian Clary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful study of a relatively neglected, yet important 20th century theologian and, as McGrath argues, public intellectual. I especially appreciated how McGrath resituated the Barth/Brunner debate over natural theology. This makes me want to read Brunner more carefully.

[Ben House · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, reading this book was not a "reappraisal" of Brunner, for I knew too little about him. I did know he was German (actually from Switzerland) and that his name often came up alongside Karl Barth. I also had some distrust of him due to his Neo-Orthodox label. But I now have a much greater respect for him as a theologian and cultural commentator. This book has led me to start reading some of Brunner's actual writings. There are still warning signs in reading Brunner. He was wrong about the Virgin Birth and a bit hard to pin down on Scripture, but with eyes open, one can profit from this neglected theologian.

Another benefit is the comments and writings of the author of this book, Alister McGrath. McGrath is a first rate scholar. He has the ability to write for both the more scholarly community and serious Christian readers.

[Sooho Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

World-class scholar, Alister McGrath has done a tremendous service for budding theologians on a most forgotten, misunderstood, and significant theologian of the 20th century: Emil Brunner. Brunner’s prominence is unjustly poised as “Barth’s inferior half” due to a poorly executed debate (McGrath claims from both sides) in 1934. And though Barth’s magisterial Kirchliche Dogmatik (Church Dogmatics) is the most dominant contribution, Brunner’s perceptive The Mediator, Man in Revolt, The Divine-Human Encounter, Revelation and Reason, and many others are definitive touchstones of the ecumenical theological enterprise. Brunner’s rediscovery and reappraisal can only benefit our whetting and wedding of theology, mind, and life.

cf. www.sooholee.wordpress.com.