Trinitarian Atonement Analysis

Barth’s understanding of God’s being in act helps us strengthen the ontological basis of the Trinitarian atonement by reconstructing the notion of the triune God through the incarnation. As we have seen above, Barth conceives of God’s being in terms of act, not in terms of substance. Understanding God’s being in terms of substance often gives us complications to understand how the triune God works in eternity and in time without changing his substance. When it comes to the incarnation, this identity problem seems to become more obvious. How could divine God become human without changing his substance? To preserve divine immutability in the incarnation, the doctrine of God has been developed based on a priori probability. As a result, …show more content…
In other words, God’s being in eternity (the immanent Trinity) is construed differently from God’s being in time (the economic Trinity), revealed through the life and work of Jesus Christ. Consequentially, the understanding of God’s being in substance undermines the ontological integrity of …show more content…
As we have seen above, Barth finds the very being of God in the act of revelation. In this regard, it cannot be emphasized enough that he highly regards the historical facticity of the incarnation as the center of revelation. On the basis of this historical facticity, he then asks what and who God is in accordance with God’s act rather than preferentially seeks God’s being from the abstract theological epistemology. By claiming God’s being in act, moreover, Barth indispensably posits that God in time should correspond to himself in eternity. Otherwise, there is no real revelation as repeatedly mentioned above. There is neither addition nor subtraction to God’s being whether in time or in eternity. God’s being in act in time, therefore, is neither alien nor coincidental to himself in eternity. Rather, God is confirming and displaying his proper being in a new direction toward us from eternity. There is no immanent-economic distinction in the Trinity with respect to their