A Shared Mercy: Karl Barth on Forgiveness and the Church (New Explorations in Theology)

Review"It is almost unthinkable that the insights of Karl Barth have yet to be fully brought to the central topic of forgiveness. In this book, Coutts not only fills this significant gap in Barth research, but does so with the care, sensitivity, and depth of analysis that is a model for any Barth reader. Any student of Barth and any theologian interested in forgiveness will find much worth in engaging seriously with this work." -- Tom Greggs, Marischal Chair of Divinity, University of Aberdeen"Jon Coutts has provided us with a brilliant study of the character of forgiveness. Leaning into the wisdom of Karl Barth, he demonstrates that the church cannot be the church until it learns to give and receive forgiveness, and that this can only be learned and offered insofar as the church leans into the forgiveness offered by God in Christ. This book is a wonderful explication of the pivotal line in the creed, 'I believe in . . . the forgiveness of sins.'" -- Gordon T. Smith, president, Ambrose University, Calgary, Alberta"What a pleasure to read a work that combines scholarly excellence with pastoral sensitivity. Jon Coutts serves both the academy and the church by offering a careful, well-reasoned, and innovative theology of forgiveness in conversation with Karl Barth and a host of contemporary thinkers. The interpretation and appropriation of Barth will be of special interest to scholars of his theology, but the constructive account of forgiveness that stands at the heart of this book will be helpful to anyone seeking to learn how the church can learn to forgive as it first has been forgiven." -- Keith L. Johnson, associate professor of theology, Wheaton College"The significance of Jon Coutts's masterful description of Barth's teaching on forgiveness and the church extends beyond the narrow confines of Barth scholarship. It deserves to be read by anyone who wants to think seriously about the logic and practice of forgiveness." -- Adam Neder, Whitworth University"This is the most thorough account we have of Karl Barth's theology of forgiveness as outlined in CD IV. Coutts rightly locates his study within Barth's ecclesiology, highlighting the fundamentally communal character of Christian forgiveness. Coutts's careful exposition, critical theological judgment, and charitable practicality come together to advance our vision of what it means to 'forgive as we have been forgiven.' I'm doubly delighted to acknowledge that Coutts, a former student of mine, has now become my teacher!" -- David Guretzki, professor of theology, church public life, Briercrest Seminary"In this accomplished volume, Jon Coutts presents a bold vision of the theology and practice of Christian forgiveness that navigates this acutely difficult terrain with sensitivity and insight. Operating at the boundary of systematic, ethical, and pastoral reflection, Coutts draws on Karl Barth's doctrine of reconciliation to present a scripturally based and ecclesially attentive account of forgiveness as a reality of grace in a truly reconciled yet still sinful world. The result is a work that offers both consolation and challenge to Christians in their calling to be servants of reconciliation and deserves the careful attention of both theologians and pastors. Highly recommended." -- Paul T. Nimmo, King's Chair of Systematic Theology, University of Aberdeen"Coutts's aim in this tightly argued yet accessible volume is to elucidate the 'practical ecclesial ramifications' of Karl Barth's theology. He does so by reading Barth's doctrine of the church in Church Dogmatics IV through the lens of forgiveness, which highlights the church's ministry of reconciliation while anchoring that mission firmly in Jesus Christ's own history. Coutts demonstrates that Barth locates 'interpersonal forgiveness at the beating heart of the church's life.' In so doing, Coutts helps us think through what it means when in the Lord's Prayer Christians ask their Father to forgive them as they fo