The Spirituality & Politics of Karl Barth: Travis McMaken & Ash Cocksworth

I am thrilled to have my friend and Barthian Travis McMaken back on the podcast. This time we are joined by his co-editor for the Karl Barth volume in the Classics of Western Spirituality volume, Ash Cocksworth. I really enjoyed this volume of one of my favorite series, and I hope this conversation communicates what a stellar job they did putting it together. The selections were excellent, their introductory comments are clarifying, and this conversation is fun and lively for all your theology nerds. PLUS we let you know that Travis will return to Theology Beer Camp this year!

About the book…

For Karl Barth, all dogmatic work is spiritual. Thus, like Aquinas and other renowned theologians, Barth did not write an independent spiritual theology, but integrated spirituality into his dogmatic work. Nevertheless, specific texts within Barth’s corpus are dedicated to spiritual matters and they form the basis of the material in this volume. The selections draw widely from Barth’s commentary on Romans, Church Dogmatics, sermons, lectures, speeches, seminars, and his own prayer life. They illumine for researchers, students, and the general reader the distinctiveness of Barth’s theology of Christian spirituality and the important contribution he makes to the wider traditions of Christian spirituality. To augment the primary sources, this volume also contains an introductory essay that comments on the selection of texts, sets Barth in his historical context, charts the development of his thought, and indicates the significance of spirituality to his theology (including drawing out the distinctively christological shape of his spiritual theology).

Ashley Cocksworth is Senior Lecturer in Theology and Practice at the University of Roehampton. He studied theology at the University of Edinburgh and then undertook doctoral work at the University of Cambridge. Previously he was Assistant Professor in Theology and Ministry in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University (2017-18) and Tutor in Systematic Theology at the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham (2012-17).

W. Travis McMaken, PhD, is the Butler Bible Endowed Professor of Religion and Associate Dean of Arts and Humanities at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO. He is a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

McMaken’s writing engages primarily with 20th century theology (esp. Protestant theology, with specialization in Karl Barth, Helmut Gollwitzer, and T. F. Torrance) while working constructively on the subjects of sacramentology, ecclesiology, and political theology.

Previous Episodes with Travis include:

* Dialectical Theology

* Our God Loves Justice

* Why Go Barthian?

Theology Beer Camp 2023!!

Don’t miss your chance to hang with 15+ theologians, 15+ God-Pods, and a bunch of theology nerds like yourself.

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