A Shared Mercy: Karl Barth on Forgiveness and the Church

New Explorations in Theology

by Jon Coutts, John B. Webster (Foreword)

Christians regularly ask God to "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," but tend to focus on the first half and ignore the second. Something is missing if Christians think of mission only in terms of proclamation or social justice and discipleship only in terms of personal growth and renewal leaving the relational implications of the gospel almost to chance. It is vital both to spiritual life and mission to think of the church as both invitation and witness to a particularly merciful social dynamic in the world. As a work of constructive practical theology and a critical commentary on the ecclesiology of Karl Barth's unfinishedChurch Dogmatics, A Shared Mercy explains the place and meaning of interpersonal forgiveness and embeds it within an account of Christ's ongoing ministry of reconciliation. A theologian well-practiced in church ministry, Jon Coutts aims to understand what it means to forgive and reconcile in the context of the Christ-confessing community. In the process he appropriates an area of Barth's theology that has yet to be fully explored for its practical ramifications and that promises to be of interest to both seasoned scholars and newcomers to Barth alike. The result is a re-envisioning of the church in terms of a mercy that is crucially and definitively shared."

Genres: Theology

256 pages, Paperback

Published September 8, 2016

Reviews

[Daniel Rempel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a massive undertaking, surveying and mining Barth’s famous doctrine of reconciliation to speak to the Christian and ecclesial task of forgiveness. Both helpfully clarifying and complexifying the concept, Coutts challenges his reader to think deeply about a topic that we presume that we know a lot about, given the essential nature of forgiveness to the Christian faith.

Perhaps this quote gets heart of the argument: “to be forgiven is not to be given a ‘clean slate’ and set back on the same old path to try again; it is to be set on a path that carries on in the grace that remains grace—that is, in the life of daily invocation and obedience of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.”

Well worth the read, both for the concise, accessible survey of CD IV, but also for how it challenges our presuppositions about the heart of forgiveness.

[Michael Philliber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forgiveness is such a tricky event since there are several consequential questions attached to it: “Does this mean I forget what he did and allow him access again?” “I may have said the words of forgiveness to her, but I can’t bring myself to trust her. Does this make me unforgiving?” “After all he did to us, if I forgive him now doesn’t that mean he gets off scot-free?” There are lots of despairs and disgraces swimming around forgiveness, making it a hot and heartrending subject. John Coutts, tutor of theology and ethics at Trinity College in Bristol, England, and ordained in the Christian and Missionary Alliance, approaches this needful topic in his new, 244 page paperback, “A Shared Mercy: Karl Barth on Forgiveness and the Church.” It is written to interact with Karl Barth in a scholarly, but also, pastoral manner.

“A Shared Mercy” works through six chapters, moving through ....

The remainder of the review can be found here: http://mphilliber.blogspot.com/2016/1...

[Craig Devereaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent exploration of an often overlooked aspect of Karl Barth's theology. More than that however, Coutts attends the subject with not only theological acuity but also pastoral sensitivity. There is not only a poignant critique of the majority of church's habits and practices of forgiveness (deficient as they are) but also a constructive paradigm by and through which churches that are sensitive to their mission of reconciliation can imbibe in their daily life to live out their place in God's mission to reconcile all things to himself in Jesus Christ. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a better understanding of forgiveness in both its parts and its fullness, as the ethic of the church.

[Colleen Jantzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful and thorough