Christ and Adam: Man and Humanity in Romans 5

by Karl Barth

In this essay, Barth discusses the relationship between Christ and Adam as understood by Paul. Moving beyond traditional exegetical and theological scholarship done on Romans 5, Barth offers an entirely new interpretation of the conception of humanity presented in Paul's view of the Christ-Adam relationship. A valid contribution to the interpretation of Romans 5, 'Christ and Adam' is also an example of Barth's exegetical method and provides insight into his broader theological project.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Christian

82 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Protestant theologian Karl Barth, a Swiss, advocated a return to the principles of the Reformation and the teachings of the Bible; his published works include Church Dogmatics from 1932.

Critics hold Karl Barth among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important since Saint Thomas Aquinas. Beginning with his experience as a pastor, he rejected his typical predominant liberal, especially German training of 19th century.

Instead, he embarked on a new path, initially called dialectical, due to its stress on the paradoxical nature of divine truth—for instance, God is both grace and judgment), but more accurately called a of the Word. Critics referred to this father of new orthodoxy, a pejorative term that he emphatically rejected. His thought emphasized the sovereignty of God, particularly through his innovative doctrine of election. His enormously influenced throughout Europe and America.

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't actually read through the entire Judeo-Christian canon until senior year of college when I took 'Hebrew' and then 'Christian Scriptures' with the college chaplain, Dennis Haas. Then, although the class used the RSV, I read through the entire 'Jerusalem Bible', having preferred that edition because it had the most extensive critical notes and cross references.

Dennis was the professor I most respected at Grinnell even though we were never personally close. His virtues as a teacher and a person were many. Although he, a family man, was not chummy with students, he did offer those of us interested in extra work, weekly meetings at his house to discuss matters at hand beyond the time afforded in class. He was also the paradigm of what is today called 'political correctness'. Papers using the male form of the indefinite third person were returned for corrections. Uses of the terms 'Old' and 'New' Testaments were gently corrected. He did this, not because it was fashionable (it wasn't yet), but because he genuinely cared about precision and people's feelings. As a lecturer and discussant one felt he was a participant in the process, not a know-it-all. I genuinely loved him.

Barth's 'Christ and Adam' was one of the only works of dogmatics we read in class, most of our attention being close to the texts. It was well chosen in that Barth does a sincere hermeneutic on Romans 5 which stays, amazingly, very close to Paul's apparent meaning and worldview.

[Marc Sims · Rating 1 out of 5]

Barth is more creative than faithful when it comes to exegesis. The man who wrote the forward on this book said, “This represents an entirely new and unprecedented interpretation.” True. And sad.

I don’t want to be too doom and gloom. There are parts of this I liked, and there are times where Barth is actually very good. But his theological presuppositions (especially regarding Christology) are so dominant and so constricting that it warps his interpretation.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Christ and Adam"-Barth's Biblical study on Romans 5:12-21-seems to fall in the category of the "lesser" Barth works. First, it's not part of his magnum opus Church Dogmatics, the rightful source of most Barth study. Thus, if you're going to look at Barth's theological interpretation of Romans 5, you would probably start there.

Second, Barth isn't primarily known as a Biblical interpreter of the North American variety. Most commentators probably aren't going to reach for this slim volume when completing their research on Romans 5, no matter how compelling it might be.

Third, thee is the existence of his Roman's commentary. It is a landmark work of theology and Biblical studies. If a commentator is working on Romans and they want to interact with Barth, they'll probably go there.

I think these three factors play a huge factor in the relative annonymity of this work, which is too bad because it is fine and engaging work. Barth's exegesis, as usual, is unique. Barth forgoes the typical historical-critical questions and jumps into the river of Pauline theology. Even moreso, Barth makes a break with historical understandings of the passage and looks at it with fresh eyes.

Most noteable is Barth's complete lack of interest in the Augustinian doctrine of original sin. Instead Barth interprets the text in such a way that Paul is witnessing to the total superiority of Christ over Adam. The superiority is so total that our idenity as humans is no longer found in Adam but in Jesus Christ alone: "Jesus Christ is the secret truth about the essential nature of man, and even sinful man is still essentially related to him."

While Adam represents the sinful person collectively and individually, it is the superior grace of Jesus Christ that exposes the sinful person and the Law that stands between God on the right and humanity on the left. It is the "how much more" of the grace of Jesus Christ that even more so identifies humanity as sanctified in Christ.

This is a radical message and of much benefit for the ways in which the Christian Church responds to the giving of grace in Jesus Christ. The world need not be that which the Church stands over/against but faithfully bears witness to the truth of God's grace in a world that sins by rejecting and denying that same grace-i.e. denying our humanity.

[Tony Villatoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short book that seems to only have 1 chapter that is about 100 pages long. This is a short interpretation of Romans 5 that deals with the true nature of "man" written by Karl Barth (1886-1968), a Swiss Reformed theologian who scholars have named one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century.

The edition I read has an introduction by Wilhelm Pauck.

It was a very good read, although sometimes it would drag on a bit and I would have to re-read the paragraph. I don't know whether to blame that to the translation into English or my rookie theologian skills. :)

I have marked the book like a madman with exclamation marks and underlined, what I believe to be, great theological concepts when it comes to the true "man" Jesus Christ in just 21 verses of Romans 5.

There are 53 quotes that I found impacting. Yes, 53. :) Enjoy!

1. “The Gospel is the revelation of ‘dikaiosune’ (righteousness) also called ‘dikaiosis’ (righteous decision [Romans 5:16]), -i.e., the revelation of the final righteous decision of God, which, for everyone who acknowledged it in faith, is the power of God unto salvation…” -23

2. “…Even in our present afflictions we can only glory, because they can only make us the more steadfast, can only provide us with assurance, can, in this indirect way, serve only to summon us all the more to hope (Romans 5:3-4)” -31

3. “God’s righteous decision has such power to make peace with God for believers, to reconcile them to God, to pour forth God’s love into their hearts, because it has been carried out in Jesus Christ, who is, quite uniquely (5:7), the way by which we gain access to the grace in which (5:2) we have taken our stand.” -31

4. “On the death of God’s Son there follows His life as the Risen One (5:10). When we put our faith in God’s righteous decision carried out in Him, we immediately become sharers in Christ’s triumph – ‘how much more’ (pollo mallon).” -32

5. “In particular, the stupendous fact that the believer may and must glory in his existence has its ground and meaning here. We glory ‘in God’ (5:11) when we glory in our hope (5:2.)” -32

6. “His resurrection is the supreme act of God’s sovereignty; henceforth we are bound to live and think in its light.” -33

7. “In believing, them [we] are only conforming to the decision that has already been made in Him.” -34

8. “In believing in Him, they [we] are acknowledging that when He died and rose again, they [we] too, died and rose again in Him, and that, from now on, their [our] life, in its essentials, can only be a copy and image of His.” -34

9. “His function remains that of giving, theirs of receiving; His of leading the way, theirs of following. His position remains unchangeably that of the original, theirs of copy. He remains unmistakably distinguished from any of them.” -36

10. “Man’s essential and original nature is to be found, therefore, not in Adam but in Christ. In Adam we can only find it prefigured. Adam can therefore be interpreted only in the light of Christ and not the other way around.” -40

11. “The righteous decision of God has fallen upon men not in Adam but in Christ.” -41

12. “We are truly men because we, like Adam, are below and not above, because Adam’s claim to be our head and to make us members in his body is only apparent. We are real men in our relationship to Adam, only because Adam is not our head and we are not his members, because above Adam and before Adam is Christ.” -46

13. “Our relationship to Christ has an essential priority and superiority over our relationship to Adam. He is he Victor and we in Him are those who are awaiting the victory.” -46

14. “The main point of Romans 5:12-21 is that here man stands against God in such a way that, even in his opposition, his wrongness, his lie, and his powerlessness, he must be a witness for God, that even as Adam and Adam’s child he must be the mirror that reflects God’s work, and so be the precursor of Christ.” -47

15. “Grace is not to be measured by sin; in spite of the formal identity between them, the sin of Adam is not comparable with the grace of Christ.” -48

16. “The effect of Adam’s sin is not comparable with the effect of Christ’s grace.” -51

17. “Death is not so much God’s direct reaction against man’s sin; it is rather God’s abandoning of the men who have abandoned Him.” -53

18. “…Instead of death ruling over them, they themselves are going to rule in life with God – ‘en zoe basileusosin’.” -54

19. “The result of sin is to destroy human nature, the result of grace is to restore it, so that it is obvious that sin is subordinate to grace, and that it is grace that has the last word about the true nature of man.” -56

20. “Since Christ has passed from His side into the world of Adam, Adam is now free to pass into the world of Christ; Christ has removed the barriers and opened the doors and Adam can pass from sin to pardon-from death to life.” -63

21. “If the truth of Christ holds good in the dark and alien world of Adam, ‘how much more’ does it hold good in the world of Christ, where it really and originally belongs! If it can shine in the darkness where it seems impossible for it to shine, ‘how much more’ can it shine in the brightness to which it belongs! We can be all the surer of it here with Christ, because we can already be sure of it there with Adam.” -65

22. “And so, in the light of Easter, falling indirectly on our past, makes it clear that in that past our salvation and hope have their eternally unshakeable foundation, ‘how much more’ sure and certain are that salvation and hope when we see them in the same light’s direct and unreflected blaze!” -69

23. “’Adam and us,’ taken by itself, is an endless chapter which makes completely comfortless reading. But, as we have seen, this chapter is not meant to be read by itself, just as the Old Testament is not to be read by itself… By itself it is falsehood… But when we see Adam’s world in the context of Christ’s world, we discover how its isolation and the apparently endless accusations and threats against it can at least come to and end.” -70

24. “It is the slaves of death that are to become the lords of life.” -71

25. “The truth in Adam can stand only because it points beyond its won comfortless message about human sin and death to the truth in Christ, which towers over it in its superiority.” -72

26. “Because we know Christ the Conqueror, we can know Christ the Crucified.” -72

27. “And if the truth in Christ can prove its validity even when it is hidden amidst the sin and death in the world of Adam, ‘how much more’ does it hold good in the world of grace and life where it properly and originally belongs!” -73

28. “…There is a disparity. For Christ who seems to come second, really comes first, and Adam who seems to come first really comes second.” -74

29. “Between Adam and Christ there stands Moses. Between the sin and death of man, on the one side, and the grace of God, on the other, there stands the revelation of God’s will to His people Israel.” -75

30. “When God reveals Himself through Moses to His people Israel – when Paul speaks of Moses he is thinking of the entire content of the Old Testament – He again confronts man in the same way as, according to Genesis 3, he once confronted Adam.” -76

31. “…In the story of Adam and in the history of Israel, man’s response to God’s revelation is the same. In both he lets himself be enticed away by the voice of the stranger, he revels against the God who has revealed to him, he becomes disobedient and is made subject to the power of death.” -77

32. “Where God reveals Himself, the truth comes to light. God reveals Himself in the Law, and the truth that comes to light in this revelation is that the place where God reveals His covenant with man as the meaning of His will as Creator is the very place at which He and man fall so helplessly apart.” -82

33. “Where there is no election, there can be no sin committed to the unfaithfulness to it. Where there is no calling, it cannot be slighted and disgraced. Where there is no sanctification, there is no desecration, no unsactity. Where God has given no explicit commandment, there can be no high-handed transgression, Where there are no prophets, there can be no accusations and no threats.” -82

34. “It was inevitable that the people of the revelation should once again confirm its opposition to God. The time when God sealed the covenant with Israel by Himself intervening on man’s behalf and so made His grace to overflow, was bound to be the time when Israel finally disowned the covenant and proved itself absolutely unworthy of the grace of God.” -94

35. “The whole dark story of the Old Testament is only the prelude to this final act of rebellion whereby Israel rejected its Messiah who had come in superabounding grace to reconcile it with God. But, in thus rejecting Christ Israel acted as the representative of all other men. Here, as in its whole history, it has only done, what every other people would also have done had it received the same revelation of God’s grace.” -94

36. “If grace was to abound, if sin and death were to be removed from the world, Christ HAD to be condemned as a sinner and HAD to die.” -95

37. “If God was to show mercy to man by saving him from sin and death, and if at the same time H e was to honor His own righteousness as man’s Creator and Lord, He HAD to intervene on man’s behalf, He HAD to come to man’s rescue and let Himself be condemned as a sinner and put to death on the cross. That was what happened in Jesus Christ and that is how in Him grace became greater than sin… that divine intervention is the hyperperisseuein (‘superabounding’) grace of God.” -95

38. “For a thousand years Israel sinned, but for a thousand years God was faithful, so that the Old Testament is not just the dark prelude to Israel’s rejection of its Messiah; it is also the witness of God’s promise to be gracious, and so it is the prelude to God’s act of intervention in which He takes upon Himself the open shame of Israel and the secret shame of all men.” -95

39. “God does not rest content with demanding from man faithful allegiance to the covenant He has made. For man is unfaithful and his response to the covenant is to crucify Christ and to give final proof that he deserves nothing but the wrath of God. But in His Son, God provides this human faithfulness that man has failed to provide.” -96

40. “And so the Jews, when they condemned Christ to a sinner’s death, were in fact carrying out the good, righteous and merciful will of God.” -96

41. “The ‘pleonazein’ (abounding) of sin was indispensable if the ‘hyperperisseuein’ (superabounding) of grace was to follow.” -97
42. “The covenant was secretly from the beginning with all men, and it has now been revealed as such through the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.” -100

43. “…The crucifixion of Christ is not directly the work of the Jews, but that, while it is certainly instigated by the Jews, its execution is the work of the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate… and so the work of the Gentiles.” -100

44. “In Pilate’s encounter with Jesus, the Gentiles at the eleventh hour recapitulated in themselves the whole history of Israel …with the Jews against God, and so came to share Israel’s curse and hatefulness and shame.” -103

45. “At the very last moment before the door was closed, the non-Jews in the person of Pilate managed to enter into the very heart of the revelation in the Law… This happened that they might in due form have a share in the ‘pleonazein’ (abounding) of the transgression and might show beyond all doubt that there are no better and no worse than the Jews.” -104

46. “Man is not willing to cross the barrier that divides sin from grace. His contribution is only the rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah of Israel, who is also the Savior of the world. But God has crossed this barrier. Where man has refused, God has not refused. He Himself has come to the rescue of the men who refused. He has done well what man has done ill.” -106

47. “The history of Israel under the Law shows that there is no way from the sin of Adam to the grace of Christ, but that there is a way from the grace of Christ to the sin of Adam.” -107

48. “Adam excludes Christ, but Christ includes Adam. Adam does not become Christ, but Christ, without ceasing to be Christ, and indeed just because He is Christ, becomes Adam as well.” -107

49. “Jesus Christ is the secret truth about the essential nature of man, and even sinful man is still essentially related to Him. That is what we have learned from Romans 5:12-21.” -107

50. “We have come TO Christ as believers, because we had already come FROM Christ, so that there was nothing else for us to do but believe in Him.” -111

51. “So it is Christ that reveals the true nature of man. Man’s nature in Adam is not, as is usually assumed, his true and original nature; it is only truly human at all in so far as it reflects and corresponds to essential human nature as it is found in Christ.” -112

52. “True human nature, therefore, can only be understood by Christians who look to Christ to discover the essential nature of man.” -112

53. “Christ is not only God’s Son; He is also a man who is not a sinner like Adam and all of us. He s true man in an absolute sense, and it is in His humanity that we have to recognize true human nature in the condition and character in which it was willed and created by God.” -116

[Rob O'Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who does not operationalize theology from a Reformed (i.e., Augustinian, Calvinist, Piperist) paradigm, Barth (a Neo-Orthodox) has been a frustrating reading partner. He is absolutely necessary, yet he is incredibly verbose and dense. And, to top it off, Christ and Adam is supposed to be a summary of Barth's larger theological work. This book is only 75 pages long...and it feels like 375.

Yet, if you are looking for a thoroughly Biblical approach to Paul's discussion of sin and grace in Romans 5, then you must read Barth's Christ and Adam. In each deeply dense paragraph, he dismantles the Reformed doctrines of predestination, unconditional election, and limited atonement. The only connection one might possibly find is the total depravity of man. However what Barth (correctly) means by "total depravity" and what Augustine and Calvin (incorrectly) mean are NOT the same thing.

If you are looking for a solid theologian who can provide you with a deep, thoughtful and theologically-sound approach to understanding salvation and our place in God's church, then turn to Barth. You will get lost. You will need to reread paragraphs. You will be bewildered. Yet, you will develop an understanding of how we are saved that really means something.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had this on my shelf for a while, finally got to it because Romans 5:12-19 is this week's epistle (Lent 1A). Also, I'm working through Doug Campbell's Pauline DogmaticsPauline Dogmatics: The Triumph of God's Love and it is giving me a renewed appreciation for Barth's contribution to understanding Paul's thought.

This is Barth at his best, describing the ways that Jesus reveals God and true humanity—Adam and Jesus described in parallel with the latter as the true prototype to the former. Death came to all through one man, how much more will Grace be poured out on all through the One Man!

One of the best things about Barth, is that the universe and all creation become coherent, only as we come to apprehend the God revealed to us in Christ Jesus. Lots to chew on here, and lots that enlarges my vision of grace.

[Chris Heren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I understand why his Romans commentary was seen as groundbreaking and there is much in this little work on anthropology and Romans 5 that is appreciated. His interpretation definitely goes contrary to traditional scholastic Reformed thought and the Liberal Lutheran theology of his day.

There are still some issues left unanswered I know he addresses elsewhere, but a good introduction to Barth's emphasis on Christ as the starting point for all theology, including justification and original sin.

Excellent for a class on contemporary treatments of Romans, Christology, justification, or just Barth's thought in general.

[Joshua Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

2021 Western thinking needs to be baptized in Karl Barth’s understanding of reconciliation. Cosmic reconciliation is very different than religious reconciliation.

[Matthew Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant both in its philosophy and theology. Must read for anyone who studies the Bible, particularly the book of Romans.

[Joseph Radosti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christ And Adam
Man And Humanity In Romans 5
By Karl Barth
With an Introduction By Wilhelm Pauck


Notice the title “Christ and Adam” not “Adam and Christ.” Adam is subordinate to Christ. Christ is the man from heaven and Adam was created by him. Adam isn’t the “Alpha,” Christ is. Adam was a “type” of Christ. The true nature of human beings is found in Christ not Adam. Therefore the Christ life is our true life. Wilhelm Pauck writes that Barth’s understanding of Romans 5 framed his five part work on Church Dogmatics, which began in 1931.

Barth’s theology is centered on Jesus. God made a decision for humanity; therefore salvation is objectively completed through Christ. Our belief only affirms what is true – that when Christ died, so did we; when Christ rose from the dead, so did we. The death we find in Adam is subordinate to the life we find in Christ. The truth that we know in Christ is superior to the truth that we know in Adam.

Israel only brought more clarity to what was known through Adam. The law didn’t bring salvation; it was brought in to make the sin evident. However, grace is far greater than the sin. God becomes the sinner in Christ and brings victory over sin and death by dying in humanity’s place.

This is a short book, an essay of sort, and I read it through in one sitting. But I returned to it again to write this review. In “Christ and Adam,” Barth turns contemporary Christianity upside down. Contemporary Christianity starts with man and the “problem of sin.” But the gospel truth as brought out by the Apostle Paul and written about by Barth in this book, starts with God’s decision for man in Christ. This is the first book that I’ve read by Barth, but it definitely won’t be the last!

[Matt Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barth' 100 page evaluation of Romans 5. It puts this all important chapter in the grand scheme of Redemption. There are no chapters so it seems difficult to find a stopping place because the entire thing flows so well!

[Wyatt Houtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

My edition had 117pages