Karl Barth was well-known for his criticism of German nationalism as a corrupting influence on the German protestant churches in the Nazi era. Defining and recognising nationhood as distinct from the state is an important though underappreciated task in Barth's theology. It flows out of his deep concern for the capacity for nationalist dogma - that every nation must have its own state - to promote warfare. The problem motivated him to make his famous break with German liberal protestant theology. In this book, Carys Moseley traces how Barth reconceived nationhood in the light of a lifelong interest in the exegesis and preaching of the Pentecost narrative in Acts 2. She shows how his responsibilities as a pastor of the Swiss Reformed Church required preaching on this text as part of the church calendar, and thus how his defence of the inclusion of the filioque clause in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed stemmed from his ministry, homiletics and implicit missiology. The concern to deny that nations exist primordially in creation was a crucial reason for Barth's dissent from his contemporaries over the orders of creation, and that his polemic against 'natural theology' was largely driven by rejection of the German liberal idea that the rise and fall of nations is part of a cycle of nature which simply reflect divine action. Against this conceit, Barth advanced his famous doctrine of the election of Israel as part of the election of the community of the people of God. This is the way into understanding the division of the world into nations, and the divine recognition of all nations as communities wherein people are meant to seek God.

Nationhood, Providence, and Witness argues that problems with recognizing the State of Israel lie at the heart of approaches to nationhood and unease over nationalism in modern Protestant theology, as well as modern social theory. Three interrelated themes are explored. The first is the connection between a theologian's attitude to recognizing Israel and their approach to the providential place of nations in the divine economy. Following from this, the argument is made that theologians' handling of both modern and ancient Israel are mirrored profoundly in the question of recognition and ethical treatment of the nations to which they belong, along with neighboring nations. The third theme is how social theory, represented by certain key figures, has handled the same issues. Four major theologians are discussed: Reinhold Niebuhr, Rowan Williams, John Milbank, and Karl Barth. Alongside them are placed social theorists and scholars of religion and nationalism, including Mark Juergensmeyer, Philip Jenkins, Anthony Smith, and Adrian Hastings. In the process, debates over the relationship between theology and social theory are reconfigured in concrete terms around the challenge of recognition of the State of Israel as well as stateless nations. Carys Moseley studied Classics and Theology at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and Edinburgh, and has taught Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of Nations and Nationalism in the Theology of Karl Barth (2013). 'Here is a lively study of nationhood . . . that] will undoubtedly raise hackles, provoke discussion and dissent. . . . Here is swashbuckling, stimulating theology, which should be carefully studied not only by theologians, but by people of many faiths, political and social theorists, and ethicists. Alan P.F. Sell, author of 'Philosophy, Dissent and Nonconformity' (2003) and 'Confessing the Faith Yesterday and Today' (2013). Nationalism and the concept of nationhood is something Christian theologians have shied away from. The tragedy of the Holocaust, the European experience during the twentieth century, and the fractious state of the Middle East during the twenty-first have given us all pause for thought. On the basis of a fresh understanding of Israel, Moseley tackles negative attitudes toward the integrity of stateless nations and suggests creative ways in which current missiology and theological ethics can respond positively. D. Densil Morgan, Professor of Theology, University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Description: This book argues that problems with recognizing the State of Israel lie at the heart of approaches to nationhood and unease over nationalism in modern Protestant theology, as well as modern social theory. Three interrelated themes are explored. The first is the connection between a theologian's attitude to recognizing Israel and their approach to the providential place of nations in the divine economy. Following from this, the argument is made that theologians' handling of both modern and ancient Israel is mirrored profoundly in the question of recognition and ethical treatment of the nations to which they belong, along with neighboring nations. The third theme is how social theory, represented by certain key figures, has handled the same issues. Four major theologians are discussed: Reinhold Niebuhr, Rowan Williams, John Milbank, and Karl Barth. Alongside them are placed social theorists and scholars of religion and nationalism, including Mark Juergensmeyer, Philip Jenkins, Anthony Smith, and Adrian Hastings. In the process, debates over the relationship between theology and social theory are reconfigured in concrete terms around the challenge of recognition of the State of Israel as well as stateless nations. Endorsements: "Here is a lively study of nationhood . . . that] will undoubtedly raise hackles, provoke discussion and dissent, and require the unpersuaded to examine her arguments and cited texts with great care. Here is swashbuckling, stimulating theology, which should be carefully studied not only by theologians, but by people of many faiths, political and social theorists, and ethicists."-Alan P. F. Sell, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom "Nationalism and the concept of nationhood is something Christian theologians have shied away from. The tragedy of the Holocaust, the European experience during the twentieth century, and the fractious state of the Middle East during the twenty-first have given us all pause for thought. On the basis of a fresh understanding of Israel, Moseley tackles negative attitudes toward the integrity of stateless nations and suggests creative ways in which current missiology and theological ethics can respond positively."-D. Densil Morgan, Professor of Theology, University of Wales Trinity Saint DavidAbout the Contributor(s): Carys Moseley studied Classics and Theology at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and Edinburgh, and has taught Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of Nations and Nationalism in the Theology of Karl Barth (forthcoming).