Markus Barth: His Life & Legacy, Mark R.Lindsay, Lisle, InterVarsity Press Academic, 2024 (ISBN 9781514001622), 279 pp., Pb $39.95

Markus Barth (1915–1994), the eldest son of Karl Barth, was a highly respected New Testament scholar who also served as a pastor in Switzerland, professor at Dubuque and Pittsburgh Theological Seminaries as well as the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. Barth wrote several books, notably the two-volume commentary on Ephesians in the Anchor Bible series as well as studies on Baptism and the Lord's Supper. He had deep concerns about Jewish-Christian relations and other political-ecclesial issues. Barth's life and legacy are clearly and engagingly presented in Lindsay's work. The author has accessed Barth's private letters and papers, drawing on them appropriately. He has also interviewed members of the Barth family. His aim has been to acquaint readers with Barth's life and work—as he stood, inevitably, in the shadow of his famous father. Markus Barth's focus was ‘exegetical’ in nature as he dealt with biblical texts and tried to listen to their messages. Lindsay evaluates Markus Barth and his contributions but also hopes to ‘encourage others to take up the evaluative task themselves from within their own disciplinary perspectives’ (p. 231). Importantly, Lindsay expresses the hope that his book has demonstrated that ‘“Barth studies” ought no longer simply be restricted to Karl, no matter how imposing a figure he is, and surely deserves to remain’ (p. 264). After varied experiences in several universities, Markus passed his final exams and accepted a generous scholarship from the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh (October 1938). Here, in a seminary paper on ‘The Seat of Authority in Religion: The Bible as the Word of God’, he indicated his agreement with Karl Barth's perspective on the nature of the Bible, congruent also with the Theological Declaration of Barmen which proclaimed that ‘Jesus Christ alone is the Word of God’. For Markus, ‘the Bible as such, unless the Holy Spirit gives us open eyes, is not the word of God, but a human book like many others’. To speak of the inspiration of Scripture ‘does not mean that the words and thoughts and theological meaning of the Bible are infallible, and free from error’. Instead, the Bible bears ‘witness’ (p. 42). This perspective was held by Markus Barth throughout his life. From 1940–1953, Barth served as pastor in the small Swiss village of Bubendorf. He and Rose Marie (Oswald), who had taken theological courses, were married in May 1940 in Basel by Karl Barth's friend, Eduard Thurneysen. This wedding began their fifty-three years of marriage and their ‘shared life of ministry’ (pp. 43; 71). After seven years of study, Markus was awarded his doctorate by the University of Göttingen (p. 64). Parish tensions emerged along the way, but in 1951, Markus published his monograph: Die Taufe—Ein Sakrament? Barth's study of biblical texts led him to reject the view that baptism is a sacrament (the question mark in the title signals a wrestling with this question). Similarly, Markus rejected the term for the Lord's Supper as well. He wrote that ‘the term sacrament’ is itself ‘nonbiblical’ (p. 249). So no, baptism is not a means of grace, said Markus, ‘arguing against the grain of his Reformed contemporaries’ (p. 75). Lindsay writes that Barth ‘maintained that the only event that can rightly be considered a sacrament is the death and resurrection of Jesus. Rather than baptism effecting what it indicates, it instead indicates what has already been effected in the free work of God in Christ’ (p. 76). Markus's work persuaded Karl Barth ‘to completely rework his earlier, more sacramental understanding of baptism - a change of major magnitude’. For Markus, throughout his parish ministry, as Lindsay notes, ‘the proclamation of the gospel was always his primary concern, be that among German prisoners of war, in debates about proper ecclesial governance, or in the creative use of radio programs’ (p. 83). Though some parishioners occasionally became upset, ‘Markus seems never to have bewildered them in quite the same way that Karl (at least in his own recollections) did in Safenwil’ (p. 83). After thirteen years in the pastorate, Markus Barth left Switzerland for the United States where he became a Visiting Professor at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (1953). Barth was able to travel to speak and participate in events throughout the country while teaching Dubuque students, with primarily rural backgrounds. In 1955, Barth was elected as Associate Professor of New Testament at the Federated Theology Faculty of the University of Chicago. Barth was finding, as he wrote to his mother, that Dubuque's ‘narrow spirit’ had become oppressive and he yearned for the advantages of a multidisciplinary university as a context for research and teaching. In Chicago, the Barths encountered America's racial divide and racial tensions. In the local Jewish community, Markus was held in great esteem, due to the reputation of his father (p. 107). Markus had opportunities for teaching, preaching, and travelling. He ventured into ‘politically sensitive territory’ with his critiques of U.S. foreign policy and other aspects which he saw as ‘imperialist’ interventions with other nations—seeing this as interfering ‘directly with the kingship of God’ (p. 117). Markus had clashes with Chicago students, controversies with his Dean, Jerald Brauer, while also developing strong views on the church's relationship to Israel and Jewish-Christian dialogues. Theologically, this relationship meant for him that ‘to be a Christian means to be a brother of the Jew’ (p. 150). In 1963, Markus was unexpectedly invited to join the faculty of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He had found that faculty at Chicago were committed ‘to a type of theology that renders it a School for Religion and the Philosophy of Religion’ (p. 153) and believed ‘it is catastrophic when hardly any students come to Chicago who simply want to become pastors’. From 1963–1972, Barth taught at Pittsburgh. This tenure gave him time to write and to be involved with issues that were important to him, especially Jewish-Christian relations. Barth had hoped the Seminary would hire a Jewish professor, but his hopes were dashed when his proposal gained no institutional support. This failure was a painful blow (p. 177). Curriculum revision disagreements along with faculty divisions led to Barth's desire for a change. In September 1972, Markus Barth was invited to be Professor of New Testament in Basel, succeeding Oscar Cullmann (196). Barth lived and worked in Basel from 1973–1994. He travelled extensively, including a May 1987 trip to Japan where he desired most to speak about baptismal theology. He refuted infant baptism seeing the true, ‘biblical institution of baptism’ to be modelled after Jesus' baptism by John (Mt. 3:13–17) ‘rather than Matthew 28:19’ (p. 219). In 1988, Markus suffered a heart attack. Later he spoke of four heart attacks and ‘a slight brain stroke’, but it was Rose Marie who died first—of pleural cancer, in September 1993. Barth's son, Peter, took over primary care of his father. But ten months later, Markus died on July 1, 1994. At his funeral, speaking on behalf of the rector of the University of Basel and its theological faculty, Markus Barth was eulogized as ‘a kind man, and a committed teacher and researcher’ (pp. 226, 228). Lindsay's last chapter, ‘Markus Barth's Legacy’, is a fine presentation of Barth's ‘key legacies’ under three headings: Biblical (especially New Testament) scholarship; his contributions to the theology of the sacraments; and Jewish-Christian relations. Lindsay's splendid study provides an extraordinary examination of the life of this significant New Testament scholar. He indicates the important perspectives Markus Barth developed and shared. Barth's commitment to the church is evident throughout as he sought to interpret Scripture and to receive and live out the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.