ABSTRACT
Karl Barth's theological achievement is very impressive. 'God reveals Himself as the Lord' is the central claim of Barth's prolegomena with which he introduced his Church Dogmatics. Barth understands revelation doctrinally, from a centre in Christology and with further elaboration in the doctrine of the Trinity, rather than from any anthropological centre. Looking back to the Reformation, Barth confirms Calvin's view that affirming Christ's presence to the believer as a pure unmediated presence meant abolishing the remaining difference between us and Christ. Jesus Christ as the agent in revelation, Barth understands, and both the possibility and the nature of this agency will be further explicated with direct reference to the doctrine of resurrection and ascension, especially with reference to Barth's eschatological framework. This eschatological orientation of the 'time between' colours every aspect of the age. The importance of the ascension for Barth, and the shape it lends his thought, especially with regard to the redemption of humanity.
