Karl Barth's doctrine of creation: Church bells beyond the stars

Despite its apparent distance from our contemporary context, Barth's theology can be read as offering a distinctively Christian account of the world as God's good creation, while maintaining its distance from more philosophical and experiential approaches. Barth's iteration of the traditional doctrine reveals significant scriptural, personalist and christological features while insisting upon more than a mere account of origination. Though defending key features of his account, this article also suggests that at times his work displays an ingrained anthropocentrism, a pneumatological deficit and a systematic urge that threatens to constrict the theology of creation.