363 - Karl Barth in Review & The Spirit is Lord

Karl Barth in Review
By H. Martin Rumscheidt, ed.
Pittsburgh, Pickwick, 1981. 118 pp. $8.80.

The Spirit is Lord
By P. J. Rosito, S.J.
Edinburgh, T. & T. Clark, 1981. 228 pp. 8.95.

The first of these books about Barth is a series of discussions of his posthumously published works, with an introduction by Eberhardt Busch and a concluding review by Hans Frei of Busch's biography. The opening pages of the introduction are masterly, and the accounts of his letters are particularly interesting. It is appropriate also that this book should be published from Pittsburgh, where Barth's desk now reposes.

The other book is a substantial treatment of his doctrine of the Spirit by an American Jesuit. It is thorough and appreciative, if ponderous in style, although not all of his followers will find its critical comments convincing. Both these books are valuable and strive to be faithful to Barth's own observation that he looks for understanding, not veneration. Yet hopefully, the proliferation of secondary sources like these will not be made a substitute for reading Barth himself.

Daniel Jenkins
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, N.J.