Deus providebit: Barth's critical engagement with Calvin and Schleiermacher on the providence of God

This dissertation examines Karl Barth's critique of the Reformed doctrine of providence that it is not based on Jesus Christ and hence is not "Christian." He understands the seed of the problem to have been sown already by Jean Calvin and reaching fruition in Friedrich Schleiermacher in whom the God of providence becomes nothing more than the whence of omnicausality. As a result, according to Barth, the doctrine of providence has either become an easy object of misuse or been pushed aside as irrelevant in our era. Barth's critique is broken down into three interrelated charges and tested against a fair assessment of the doctrine in Calvin and Schleiermacher: (1) it is not properly Christocentric; (2) it falls into determinism; (3) it fails to treat the problem of evil adequately.;An extensive reading of Calvin's treatises and exegetical writings, as well as the Institutes, shows that Calvin is far more concerned with the Christological basis, and hence the Christian meaning, of providence than Barth recognizes. Furthermore, Calvin treats the problems of determinism and evil in dialectical and Christological ways that defy Barth's critique. Nevertheless, certain unguarded flanks can be identified in Calvin. Barth's critique is more effective against Schleiermacher's doctrine of preservation, but Schleiermacher's emphasis on God's love problematizes Barth's reading of Schleiermacher's God as merely the whence of omnicausality. The problem is traced back to Schleiermacher's understanding of the relationship between the triune God and the work of providence.;After these discussions, Barth's own doctrine of providence in the Church DogmaticsIII/3 is explicated. It is shown how his understanding is shaped by implicit and explicit engagements with Calvin and Schleiermacher. In the end, it becomes clear that Barth's true opponent in his critique of the Reformed doctrine of providence is Schleiermacher whose problem Barth reads into Calvin. Nevertheless, Barth's critique of Calvin still carries an undeniable force; furthermore, his critique of Schleiermacher is nuanced by the line of continuity between them regarding God's love.