De triomf van Berkouwer? De receptie van Karl Barth in hervormd-gereformeerde en christelijk-gereformeerde kring in de jaren vijftig

Samenvatting

This article explores the reception of Karl Barth’s theology within both the Reformed
League in the former Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and the Christian Reformed
Church (CRC) in the 1950s. Barth’s influence slightly diminished in the DRC. At the
same time he won sympathisants among the neo-calvinists. In reaction, even most
representatives of younger generations in the Reformed League and the CRC started to
speak about Barth’s dialectical theology as ‘new modernism’. Only a few of them mentioned
positive aspects in this theology. Through his The Triumf of Grace in the Theology
of Karl Barth (1954) G.C. Berkouwer finished the influence of C. van Til and his qualification
of Barths theology as new modernism. Theologians in the Reformed League and
in the CRC nuanced their criticism of Barth, but despite their admiration of Berkouwer
they only slightly moderated their critical attitude. To some extent Berkouwer’s book
raised doubts about his own calvinist firmness.