On Barth’s Romans Commentary with Mark Gignilliat

Why was Karl Barth’s commentary on Romans so disruptive? This seminal work is still marked by its profound impact on the German liberal theological tradition. His commentary emerged in the shadow of the Great War, but more fully reflected a crisis in his own pastoral ministry where traditional theological frameworks seemed inadequate.

Dr. Mark S. Gignililat points to Barth’s disruption for his era. “Barth concluded that the Bible is not primarily the story of humanity coming to discover its own consciousness and religious identity; it was the story of God’s intrusion into the world and God speaking into that world. A theology of revelation spoke to his cultural moment.” Barth lamented the method’s tendency to overlook the text’s deeper significance as a vehicle for God’s self-disclosure.

In this episode of Credo’s The Biblical Theology Podcast, Mark Gignilliat and Sam Bierig discuss Karl Barth’s commentary on Romans and his critique of the historical-critical method.

Listen to other episodes on The Biblical Theology podcast.

Mark Gignilliat began his teaching tenure at Beeson Divinity School in 2005. He teaches Hebrew, Old Testament exegesis and Old Testament theology, with teaching interests including biblical theology, theological exegesis and the history of interpretation. Gignilliat most recently published Reading Scripture Canonically (Baker, 2019) and Micah in the International Theological Commentary (T&T Clark, 2019). His other books include A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism (Zondervan, 2012) and Karl Barth and the Fifth Gospel (Routledge, 2009). Gignilliat has contributed to various edited books, peer-reviewed journals and magazines. He is married to Naomi and is father to William, Jackso n, Franklin and Mary Grace.

Sam Bierig serves as Vice President of Undergraduate Studies, Dean of Spurgeon College, and Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at Spurgeon College. Sam completed his Ph.D. in Biblical Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where he wrote his dissertation on hermeneutics and the interpretation of the book of Proverbs. He has written a devotional on Jonah, a book for pastors titled No Neutral Words, and a book for student pastors titled Fulfill Your Student Ministry.