The Humanity of God

This brief essay emerged from a lecture Barth delivered in 1956, representing a mature theological reflection that addressed growing criticism of his earlier work's emphasis on divine transcendence. Written during the final phase of his career, it responds to charges that his theology had made God too remote and abstract, divorced from human experience and concern.

Barth argues that God's humanity is not a compromise of divine transcendence but its truest expression. He contends that in Jesus Christ, God reveals that divine transcendence always included an orientation toward humanity—that God's very being is characterized by gracious condescension and fellowship with creation. Rather than retreating from his earlier emphasis on divine otherness, Barth shows how that otherness manifests precisely as God's free decision to be "God with us." The essay demonstrates that divine transcendence and divine humanity are not opposing concepts but mutually interpreting realities that find their unity in the incarnation.

This work has remained significant as both a clarification of Barthian theology and a profound meditation on the incarnation's implications for understanding God's character. It counters persistent misreadings of Barth as promoting an utterly distant deity while advancing christological insights that have influenced generations of theologians wrestling with the relationship between divine sovereignty and divine love.

Who should read this: Students of Barth's theology seeking to understand his mature position, systematic theologians exploring christological foundations for theological anthropology, and pastors wanting rigorous theological grounding for preaching the incarnation. Those looking for devotional material or practical application will find this too dense and abstract for their purposes.