Balthasar, Hans Urs von. Dare We Hope “That All Men Be Saved”? San
Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1988. Balthasar’s “yes” answer to the question
in the title is controversial but very inÀ uential in contemporary
Catholic theology.
———. First Glance at Adrienne von Speyr. San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
- An introduction to the life and work of the mystical theologian who
inspired Balthasar’s radical thinking about Holy Saturday, with a brief
selection from her writings.
Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1956–1973.
Barth’s major work is a multi-volume masterpiece. Most inÀ uential are
vol. 1, pt. 1, on the word of God and the doctrine of the Trinity, vol. 2, pt.
2, on the doctrine of election (that is, predestination), and vol. 4, pt. 1, on
the atonement. Some readers ¿ nd Barth’s style impenetrable; others ¿ nd
it exhilarating.
———. Dogmatics in Outline. Translated by G. T. Thomson. New York:
Harper & Row, 1959. A good place to start for a brief introduction to Barth’s
mature theology.
———. The Epistle to the Romans. Translated by E. Hoskyns. London:
Oxford University Press, 1968. When this commentary on the biblical book
of Romans came out in German in 1919, it was a bombshell that began
Barth’s theological career and generated the movement called “dialectical
theology” and later, “neo-Orthodoxy.” This English translation of the second
and substantially revised edition of 1922 conveys the vividness and power
of Barth’s writing, but the book should not be taken as a mature statement of
his theology.
Bauckham, Richard. God Cruci¿ ed: Monotheism and Christology in the
New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998. A leading scholar argues
that the earliest Christians understood Jesus, in both his suffering and his
exaltation, as belonging to the identity of the one God of Israel.