ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an extended exposition of the role of ecclesial mediation of divine revelation in the Church Dogmatics (CD). Baptism in particular refers to the foundation of the Christian life and the Lord's Supper to its renewal. Karl Barth conceived of the fragment of 'The Ethics of Reconciliation' published as CD IV/4 as part of a longer treatment of ethics under the heading, 'The Command of God the Reconciler'. Barth chose to prepare the baptism fragment for separate publication because, as he explains in the Preface to CD IV/4, it sets forth a 'radically new view', even in relation to The Teaching of the Church regarding Baptism. In Gifford lectures, Barth expresses clearly and firmly the conviction that the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper are divine-human actions, in which God primarily acts and human beings act secondarily, in service to the divine work.
