ABSTRACT
This chapter examines closely Barth's own theological reflection on the nature of the Old Testament as Christian Scripture. The revelation of God in Jesus Christ creates the necessary space between these temporal tensions as our lost time is overtaken by his time in both the eschatological now and eschatological future. This exposition of our time and its relationship to fulfilled time provides the context for Barth's formal discussion of the Old Testament as Die Zeit der Erwartung or the time ante Christum natum. The nature of the Old Testament as a genuine witness to the expectation of revelation raises its time above other times as the specifically ante Christum natum. The human resistance to the hidden God typified in Israel's judgment and suffering is inextricably linked to the overarching divine plan in which God's Yes' triumphs. In short, the Old Testament's own witness creates the necessity of Christmas.
