Sun 8/17/08

Third, Barth’s anchoring of ethics in Christology has yet another important advantage. When the Christian church talks about moral issues in society apart from Jesus Christ, it impresses the populace as being prudish, moralistic, and isolated from the passions of the marketplace. Barth set a model for evangelicals in his pastorate. He would not speak to the labor or union groups without mentioning Jesus Christ, and he would not preach Jesus Christ in his church without commenting on social issues. By keeping ethics and Christology so close, Barth goes a long way toward preventing the church, in its ethical witness, as appearing only moralistic, only prudish, only interested in principles and not people.  Ramm, After Fundamentalism  p. 150