humanity the determinant for experience and truth.^52 However, Barth questions,
“[c]an we say with final human certainty that this is so?”^53 Barth stresses the danger
of this highly subjective approach, reminding readers that this self-determination robs
humanity of any guide for discerning truth, “[i]f we hold to what we may fix and
investigate as man’s acknowledgment of the Word of God, to the experienceable in
Christian experience--- where do we get the criterion for separating this experience
from others, what is genuine in it from what is not?”^54 Therefore, the only solid
foundation for “having knowledge of the Word of God, [is] by our self-determination
being determined by the Word of God.”^55 The Holy Spirit serves a critical role in
Barth’s understanding of the experience of the Word of God, “[t]he work of the Holy
Spirit is that our blind eyes are opened and that thankfully and in thankful self-
surrender we recognize and acknowledge that it is so.... He is the Spirit of the Word
itself who brings to our ears the Word and nothing but the Word.”^56 Barth reveals an
additional insight into this through a very illuminating treatment of evangelical
hymnody.^57 As he traces the unfolding history from the sixteenth-century through the
eighteenth-century he detects both a growing preoccupation with the self and a greater
emotional emphasis. The tragedy of this according to Barth is that “confession and
proclamation have given way to religious poetry” and hymns have become
(^52) Barth’s relationship to Sc (^) hleiermacher extends beyond the scope of this thesis. For
Barth’s assessment, appreciation, and critique of Schleirermacher see Barth,
“Schleiermacher.” in “Concluding Unscientific Postscript onProtestant Theology in Nineteenth Century Schleiermacher.” See also Torrance, , 411-59 and Barth,
“Christian Experience of Schleiermacher and Barth,” 83 53 - 113.
54 Barth, CD I/1, 246, cf. 247.^
55 Barth, CD I/1, 248.^
56 Barth, CD I/1, 256.^
Barth, CD I/2, 239, cf. 247, 244, 246-248, 268, 271, 272, 276 for Barth’s fuller
understanding of the interaction between Word and Spirit. cf. Macchia, “Spirit of
God and Spirit of Life.” (^57) Barth, CD I/2, 252-7.