T&T Clark Karl Barth on Prayer: 26 (T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology)

About the Author Ashley Cocksworth is Tutor in Systematic Theology at the Queen's Foundation, Birmingham, UK. He has published on the theology of Karl Barth and, more broadly, on issues relating to the theology of prayer. Amongst other projects he is currently writing Prayer: A Guide for the Perplexed (T&T Clark/Bloomsbury, forthcoming). Product Description Ashley Cocksworth investigates Karl Barth s theology of prayer, and suggests that Barth produces a strong and vibrant theology of prayer. He provides a careful analysis of the major sections on prayer in Barth s writings. In particular, he considers Barth s prioritisation of petition in the doctrine of creation of the Church Dogmatics and his mature turn to invocation in the doctrine of reconciliation s ethical drafts. Cocksworth also uncovers a distinctive theology of contemplative prayer through an engagement with Barth s theology of the Sabbath. The theme of prayer offers new insights into Barth s understandings of participation, pneumatology, sin, baptism, religion, the Christian life, and sanctification. The result is a rich engagement with Barth s theology of prayer, an advancement of scholarship on Karl Barth, and a constructive contribution to the theology of prayer. Review A thoroughly researched and thoughtful study of Barth's theology of prayer...It is a study and book to learn from and chew over, and will likely prompt the reader to return refreshed with new questions to read over again some of Barth's many pages. - Modern Theology"[Ashley Cocksworth] unpacks Barth's understanding of prayer and situates it within the overall oeuvre, demonstrating that it is a constitutive element of Barth's overall project...There is a creativity here and a fresh reading that opens up new areas of thought. The breadth of engagement effectively demonstrates that prayer was a concern for Barth throughout his work; the depth of analysis reveals that prayer is a constitutive element of Barth's understanding of many theological concerns." - The Center for Barth Studies"Not all theologians write about the relationship of prayer and Christian theology. In this splendid study, Cocksworth (systematic theology, Queen's Foundation, UK) offers a persuasive demonstration that prayer stands at the center of Karl Barth's theological work. For Barth, Cocksworth writes in his conclusion, "'prayer' and theological 'work' are not imagined to be independent or sequential but one and the same." Cocksworth describes treatments of prayer in Barth's works before focusing on particular aspects of prayer: contemplation, petition, invocation, pneumatology, and revolt. Though Barth was uneasy with historic, contemplative prayer, Cocksworth sees his theology of the Sabbath as providing room for contemplation. In Church Dogmatics III, Barth wrote that petition was the chief feature of prayer, but toward the end of his life he adjusted that position to claim that invocation is where prayer is rightly focused. Important here are lecture fragments published as The Christian Life, in which Barth proposes this and begins a powerful exposition of the Lord's Prayer. Invocation is the strongest counter to the disorder of evil in the world and commits the prayer to revolt in opposition to the "lordless powers" that hold sway till God's kingdom fully comes. The Holy Spirit makes prayer transformative--of both the world and the person who prays. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." - D. K. McKim, Memphis Theological Seminary, USA, CHOICE"This is not only a deep and original study of Barth on prayer, engaging with the whole Church Dogmatics and a great many of this other writings, and showing how utterly central prayer is to his conception of Christian life, politics and theology; Cocksworth also sensitively relates Barth to other traditions of prayer, especially contemplation and meditation. His culminating original insight is into the importance of Barth's