Van Til and Barth: A Confessionally Reformed Critique

In the seventh course of our Fellowship in Reformed Apologetics, Dr. Jim Cassidy and Dr. Lane Tipton offer extensive exposition and sustained theological critique of Karl Barth from a confessionally Reformed perspective.

Format

Online
Course

Duration

5 hours, and 16 minutes

Subtitles Included

English

Price

$97
Free

Course Overview

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In Van Til and Barth: A Confessionally Reformed Critique, Dr. Jim Cassidy and Dr. Lane Tipton offer extensive exposition and sustained theological critique of Karl Barth from a confessionally Reformed perspective. Dr. Cassidy surveys Barth scholarship, analyzes Barth’s doctrines of revelation, God, and reconciliation, and connects his analysis to the pioneering critique offered by Cornelius Van Til. Dr. Tipton deals with Barth’s doctrine of creation as it is centered on the primordial event of Jesus Christ in which God and man participate together in a transcendent time (Geschichte). Dr. Tipton then sets Barth’s dialectical and mutualist view over against a Vosian approach as enriched by Meredith Kline’s theology of Endoxation. Special attention is given to a close reading and a focused engagement with Barth’s Church Dogmatics as both Cassidy and Tipton demonstrate and extend the value of Van Til’s penetrating critique of Barth’s deeper modernist conception.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Articulate key tenets of Karl Barth’s theology, especially regarding revelation, reconciliation, and creation, and identify how they diverge from confessional Reformed doctrine.
Assess Cornelius Van Til’s critique of Barth, including his analysis of Barth’s method, presuppositions, and dialectical theology, with special attention to the concept of the “deeper modernist conception.”
Compare Barth’s theology of creation as centered in the history of Jesus Christ (Geschichte) with a Reformed doctrine of creation grounded in the self-contained, ontological Trinity and covenantal condescension.
Apply the Reformed critique of Barthianism in contemporary theological contexts, demonstrating how a confessionally Reformed apologetic can engage modernist and postmodernist theological trends with clarity and fidelity to Scripture.

Resources and Information

Accreditation
Course Materials
Certification

Reformed Forum is an approved provider of Continuing Education Units through the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). This course has not yet been approved for CEU credit. If you are interested in receiving ACSI credit for this course, contact us to let us know.

Course Handouts (English)

Each lesson concludes with a brief quiz, which will assist you in assessing your progress. The questions are multiple choice or true/false. Each question is designed to reinforce basic points of the lectures and to provide a means of self-assessment.

Upon successful completion of the course, you will have the option to download a certificate of completion on the main course page.

Course Lessons

Your Teacher

Patrick Jones - Course author

Lane G. Tipton

Dr. Lane G. Tipton is pastor of Trinity Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Easton, Pennsylvania and Fellow of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Reformed Forum.

Van Til and Barth: A Confessionally Reformed Critique

In the seventh course of our Fellowship in Reformed Apologetics, Dr. Jim Cassidy and Dr. Lane Tipton offer extensive exposition and sustained theological critique of Karl Barth from a confessionally Reformed perspective.

Format

Online
Course

Duration

5 hours, and 16 minutes

Subtitles Included

English

Price

$97
Free