oa Karl Barth over ‘das Nichtige’

Barth’s thinking on the origins of evil seems to be among the most complex in his Church Dogmatics. There is especially the highly problematic passage where Barth says that evil (‘das Nichtige’) exists because God does not will it and ‘not only what God wills, but what He does not will, is potent, and must have a real correspondence (CD III/3, 352).’ By examining Barth’s thoughts on salvation history, on God’s indignant rejection of any life outside his covenant of grace and care, and on God’s allowing evil, the author seeks to give a plausible and understandable exegesis of this difficult passage and he tries to show that Barth’s ideas are still relevant.