In Fully Alive, Stanley Hauerwas, the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law, argues that Swiss theologian Karl Barth’s radical theological perspective is particularly relevant and applicable to the challenges of our own time.
Living through an apocalyptic time, Barth influenced Christianity in the twentieth century profoundly. He publicly rejected Hitler’s Nazism, advocated on behalf of workers and laborers, and ministered to prisoners. Barth was named by Pope Pius XII as "the greatest theologian since Thomas Aquinas" and in 1962 even appeared on the cover of Time magazine.
Hauerwas suggests that Barth’s engagements with the social and political struggles of his day can help us see what it means to be fully human in the twenty-first century. The ecclesiastical and the political were inseparable for Barth; similarly, Hauerwas shows why it is crucial for theological claims to produce insights that make it possible for our lives to be well lived. Including chapters on race, disability, and the church in Asia, Hauerwas shows how Barth’s political theology can be read as a training manual that can help us maintain our humanity in a world in crisis.