Communion is about Death and Resurrection

Markus Barth (Rediscovering the Lord's Supper, 45-46) makes a good point that communion celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus.

"Those celebrating the Lord's Supper know the pain and shame, the horror and scandal, of Christ's death. However, they rejoice in the crucifixion and praise the slaughtered Lamb because God has raised him from the dead the crucified Son and has accepted his intercession by enthroning him at God's right hand. In Paul's theology, as much as in the message of John, Hebrews, First Peter, and Revelation, the Crucified is always the raised and living Christ. The one who rules the church and the world and who will come again is the crucified Christ. Through Christ alone the godless are justified and reconciled, saved and given peace (Rom. 4:5, 25; 5:1; 8:11; 2 Cor. 4:10-14; 5:14-15, 18-20; Eph. 1:19-23; 4:9-10; Rev. 5). We have abundant reason to rejoice in Christ's death and to praise the slaughtered yet living Lamb."

Markus Barth on the Lord's Supper

I'm reading through Rediscovering the Lord's Supper by Markus Barth (thanks to Wipf & Stock for the copy). Here is what Barth concludes about the Jewish background of the Lord's Supper:

1. The abandonment of altar-like structures in favor of real tables.

2. The participation of children because it is not only permissible but necessary.

3. The combination of liturgical act with a real meal, called an agape in the early church.

4. Joyful and jubilant means of celebration including oral, musical or artistic contributions.

5. The elimination of clerical dominion over the meal.

6. The opening of the church and chapel doors with for spontaneous and regular communion.

Lectures by Markus Barth on-line

Four lectures from Markus Barth on baptism given at Pittsburgh University in 1970 are available on-line. Markus Barth is one of my favourite NT theologians and this is the first time that I've heard his voice.

My highlight of lecture # 1 was at the 40:40 mins mark where Markus Barth refers to a discussion that he had Billy Graham where he challenged him, "Why do you speak 10 minutes about the Bible and 40 minutes about the altar call? We'd like to hear a bit more gospel and a little less method". That's telling Billy.

HT: Matt Montonini (with links).

Markus Barth on "Justified by Faith"

Markus Barth writes:

"'Justified by faith' means, accordingly, tried by the faithful God, sentenced conformably to the appearance, death, and rising of the obedient and loving Son, acquitted and set free in a manner identical with new creation and recognizably only with rejoicing and thanksgiving. God's faith, the faith of Jesus Christ, and man's answer in faith are - each in its own way - the means by which the righteousness and life are given to the community of sinful Jews and Gentiles. It is true: man is justified sola fide, by faith alone But this saving faith is much more than a mere existential posture and response of man. Faith is first of all the characteristic and gift of God and his Son. Built on the faithfulness of the Judge and the Advocate, the human trust and faithfulness toward God stand on firm ground. There is no other requisite or means of justification beyond this."

Markus Barth on Paul and Scripture

Was Paul a proof-texter? Mark Barth says "no":

"It is questionable whether one should speak, as do many of his interpreters, of Pauline 'proofs from Scripture,' because this ambiguous concept suggests that Paul sought in the Bible no more than a verification of certain insights which he had gained, without benefit of the Scriptures, through personal experience and reflection. It is more probable that the Apostle, from one missionary, congregational, personal situation to the next, discovered step by step, learned, and presented to his hearers and readers what Scripture says about the Messiah, redemption, faith. He calls Scripture a 'witness' (Rom 3:21), because he is depenent on it in reaching his conclusions."

Markus Barth, "St. Paul - A Good Jew," 9.

An Evening Reflecting on Markus Barth

I've said before, that one my favourite NT Theologians is Markus Barth. This evening I've been sipping a nice cab sav and reading about good old MB (brilliant initials you have to agree). Markus Barth (b. October 6, 1915 – d. July 1, 1994) studied Protestant theology in Bern, Basel, Berlin, and Edinburgh. From 1940 to 1953 he was pastor in Bubendorf near Basel. In 1947 he received a doctorate in New Testament from the University of Göttingen. Between 1953 and 1972 he held professorships in New Testament at theological schools in Dubuque (Iowa), Chicago, and Pittsburgh. From 1973 to 1985 he was professor of New Testament in Basel. I'm amazed of how much stuff that has gained currency in NT studies was prefigured by Markus Barth. For example:

Resurrection and Justification: Acquittal by Resurrection (with Verne H. Fletcher; New York: Holt, Rinehard and Winston, 1964). I thought my own ruminations on this subject were unprecedented, original, and masterful - until I read MB on the subject and learned that he'd said the same thing 35 years before me.

Faithfulness of Jesus Christ: "The Faith of the Messiah," Heythrop Journal 10 (1969): 363-70. MB long ago recognized that God's faithfulness is revealed in the faithfulness of the Messiah.

The New Perspective: “Jews and Gentiles: The Social Character of Justification in Paul,” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 5 (1968): 241-67. Forget Stendahl and Sanders, the New Perspective on Paul was really launched by the Barthians.

The 1995 issue of Horizons in Biblical Theology is dedicated to Markus Barth and includes several articles interacting with his work and, importantly, inlcudes a reflective piece by Donald E. Gowan, "In Memory of Markus Barth: A Personal Note". Several quotes from Gowan stand out:

"One of the advantages of having Markus Barth as one's model teacher is that his style was so unique that it was impossible to imitate him, as other students have tried to imitate the styles of their favourite teachers. One had to develop one's own style, with the aim of making a similar impression on one's students: namely the impression made by Markus' committment to Scripture as the Word of God, his dedication to thoroughness, and his obvious joy in discovering new things in Scripture. I sometimes tell my classes how he answered a student's question at Dubuque as to why he did not open his classes with prayer: He said he made no sharp distinction between his exegetical work and his prayer life".

"The quiet, gentle man was also in truth a daunting person, for he expected us to work."

"At the Divinity School [i.e. Chicago], he represented a challenge to the old, Chicago liberalism for which that school was famous The Divinity School News reported on a congenial, but vigorous discussion between Barth and Bernard Loomer, an advocate of process theology ... the significance of Markus' appointment to the Divinity School was emphasized by one student's blunt question: 'Why did the school appointment Dr. Markus Barth to this faculty?'"

"During my first year there, the Biblical Colloquium involved graduate students and Bible faculty in a year-long study of Romans, and the exchanges between Barth and Robert Grant, who represented significantly different approaches to interpretation, offered young scholars a great learning experience. The open forums at his home that year were no less stimulating; we worked our way through Bultmann's New Testament Theology during those evenings."

Another article by Charles Dickinson, "Markus Barth and Biblical Theology: A Personal Re-View" is no less entertaining than Gowan's article.

"After breaking a lance with the Bultmannians [Kasemann's review of Barth's doctoral dissertation Der Augenzeuge was savage]; serving a pastorate in Bubendorf, Switzerland; and publishing a tome on baptism, Markus was called to teach New Testament at Dubuque, Iowa; at the University of Chicago; at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; and finally to succeed Oscar Cullmann in his beloved home town of Base, Switzerland. It was in Chicago in 1962/63 that something of a theological parousia occurred in my own life, when not only did Markus Barth - primarily through his weekly theological evenings 'at home' - become my own mentor, advisor, and 'spiritual father,' but Karl Barth himself came to the University of Chicago in 1962 to deliver the lectures which became the beginning of Evangelical Theology: An Introduction and to speak with us students at Markus' 'at-home' that week".

I also found it interesting to learn that Markus Barth's first publication was: "Die Gestapo gegen die Bekenntniskirche," BN June 19-20 (1937). Heck of a topic to start your publishing career on!!! I honestly wish I'd met the guy, oh well, I'll compensate for that by reading his many works, esp. on baptism and eurcharist.

If anyone can get me a copy of Markus Barth's audio lectures on Galatians (do I have any friends in Princeton who have access to them?), I would dearly love to listen to them!