Department of Theology


BRUCE L. MCCORMACK, PH.D., DR.THEOL.HC Frederick and Margaret L. Weyerhaeuser Professor of Systematic Theology
Curriculum Vita \| Published Works \| Forthcoming Publications Works in Progress \| Lectures, Conference Presentations
Curriculum Vita Princeton Theological Seminary CN 821 Princeton, NJ 08542 Office Telephone: (609) 497-7987 bruce.mccormack@ptsem.edu Individual/Professional Website Academic Background Point Loma College, San Diego, CA, B.A., 1976; summa cum laude Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City, MO, M.Div., 1980; summa cum laude University of Basel, Switzerland, 1984-85 Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, Ph.D., 1989; summa cum laude Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, D. Theol. h. c., 2004. Grants and Honors Fulbright/Swiss Government Grant recipient - 1984-1985. [Used for research in Karl Barth Archives, Basel, Switzerland.] Member, Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, NJ - 1995-96, 1999-2000, 2003-2004. Recipient, Karl Barth Prize 1998 (20,000 Deutsch Marks awarded by the Evangelische Kirche der Union, for establishing "new standards for American and European Barth research with his book, Karl Barth's Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology "). Recipient, Honorary Doctorate, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany, May, 2004. Academic and Professional Positions 1987-1991 - Lecturer in Reformed Theology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland Autumn 1991-1998 - Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ Autumn 1998 to the present - Weyerhaeuser Professor of Systematic Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, MJ Autumn 1994 - North American Editor, Zeitschrift f ü r dialektische Theologie Autumn 1999 - Spring 2004, Member of the "Jury" delegated by the Evangelischer Kirche der Union (EKU) with the task of nominating bi-annual recipients of the "Karl Barth Prize." January 2001 - Member, Karl Barth Stiftung, Basel, Switzerland (i.e. the Karl Barth Foundation which governs the production of the Karl Barth Gesamtausgabe or "collected works"). Academic Societies and Networks Society for the Study of Theology (British) American Theological Society Karl Barth Gesellschaft (Germany) Karl Barth Society of North America American Academy of Religion Co-Convenor (with Gerrit Neven) of the Princeton-Kampen Barth Consultation Editorial and Consultancy Positions Currently Held North American Editor, Zeitschrift f ü r Dialektische Theologie (since 1994) Editorial Board, International Journal of Systematic Theology Consulting Editor, Scottish Journal of Theology Professional Societies American Academy of Religion Karl Barth Society of North America Karl Barth Gesellschaft (Germany) International Schleiermacher Society Society for the Study of Theology (Great Britain) Service to the Academy External Examiner: For Thomas Schlegel, the Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany, August 3, 2004 For Paul Nimmo, the University of Edinburgh, September 1, 2005 For Heather McDivitt, the University of Edinburgh, June 14, 2006 For Suzanne McDonald, the University of St. Andrews, June 20, 2006 Church Membership Presbyterian Church (USA) Service to the Church Member of the Church of Scotland (1987-91). Served as the Edinburgh University Faculty of Divinity's representative on the Church of Scotland's Panel on Doctrine (1988-91); member of the working party on "The Community of Women and Men" - Church of Scotland Department of World Mission and Unity (1990-91). Member of the PC(USA) "Committee to Write a New Catechism" (charged by the 206th General Assembly with the task of writing a new catechism for the church; work completed and accepted by the 210th General Assembly, 1998). Marital Status Married: Mary Schmitt McCormack (on January 12, 1980) Two children, Catriona (18) and John (16) Top Published Works Books and Monographs For Us and Our Salvation: Incarnation and Atonement in the Reformed Tradition in "Studies in Reformed Theology and History", vol.1 (Princeton: Princeton Theological Seminary, 1993). Karl Barth's Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology: Its Genesis and Development, 1909-1936 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995). Beyond Nonfoundational and Postmodern Readings of Barth: Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology, Part I, Zeitschrift f ü r dialektische Theologie 13,1 (1997): 67-95; Part II, ZDTh 13,2 (1997): 170-94. Theologischer Dialektik und kritischer Realismus: Entstehung und Entwicklung von Karl Barths Theologie, 1909-1936 (Z ü rich: TVZ, 2006). [Translation of Karl Barth's Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology.] Edited Volumes Bruce L. McCormack, Justification in Perspective: Historical Developments and Contemporary Challenges (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006). Journal Articles "Divine Revelation and Human Imagination: Must We Choose Between the Two?" Scottish Journal of Theology 37 (1984): 431-55. "Historical Criticism and Dogmatic Interest in Karl Barth's Theological Exegesis of the New Testament" Lutheran Quarterly 5 (1991): 211-25. "The Unheard Message of Karl Barth", Word and World 14 (1994): 59-66. "Karl Barth and the Impossible Possibility of Theology" [Essays on Karl Barth by Bruce McCormack, Katherine Sonderegger and Christoph Wolff in Conjunction with the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Founding of the Harvard Divinity Bulletin ], Harvard Divinity Bulletin 25, 2/3 (1996): 10-11. "Article Review: Graham Ward's Barth, Derrida and the Language of Theology " Scottish Journal of Theology 49 (1996): 97-109. "Barth in Context: A Response to Professor Gunton" Scottish Journal of Theology 49 (1996): 491-8. "Revelation and History in Transfoundationalist Perspective: Karl Barth's Theological Epistemology in Conversation with a Schleiermacherian Tradition", Journal of Religion 78 (January 1998): 18-37. "Dankeswort", Berliner Theologischer Zeitschrift (1999): 291-300; E.T. "Dankeswort", Princeton Theological Seminary Bulletin 21 (2000): 211-19. "¶27 `The Limits of the Knowledge of God': Theses on the Theological Epistemology of Karl Barth", Zeitschrift f ü r Dialektische Theologie 15 (1999): 75-86. "Gro ß e und kleine `Durchbr ü che' - Predigten 1916", Verk ü ndigung und Forschung 46 (2001): 21-26. "Foreword" to Richard E. Burnett, Karl Barth's Theological Exegesis: The Hermeneutical Principles of the R ö merbrief Period (T ü bingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001), pp.vii-ix. "Barths grunds ä tzlicher Chalcedonismus?", Zeitschrift f ü r Dialektische Theologie 18 (2002): 138-73. "What Has Basel to Do with Berlin? Continuities in the Theologies of Barth and Schleiermacher," The Princeton Seminary Bulletin 23 (2002): 146-73. "The Barth Renaissance in America: An Opinion," The Princeton Seminary Bulletin 23 (2002): 337-40. "Afterword" to the papers of the Princeton-Kampen Barth Consultation for 2001, Zeitschrift f ü r Dialektische Theologie 18 (2002): 364-78. "The One, the Three and the Many: In Memory of Colin Gunton," Cultural Encounters: A Journal for the Theology of Culture 1,2 (2005) 7-17. "Introduction" to the Zeitschrift f ü r Dialektische Theologie 20, 1 (2005): 4-5. "Dankesworte", Zeitschrift f ü r Dialektische Theologie (Sonderausgabe ) 2006: 31-39. "Theology and Science: Karl Barth's Contribution to an Ongoing Debate", Zeitschrift f ü r Dialektische Theologie 22 (2006, Sonderausgabe ): 56-59. Karl Barth's Christology as Resource for a Reformed Version of Kenoticism," International Journal of Systematic Theology 8 (2006): 243-51. Chapters in Books "Historical Criticism and Dogmatic Interest in Karl Barth's Theological Exegesis of the New Testament" in Mark Burrows and Paul Rorem, eds., Biblical Hermeneutics in Historical Perspective (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1991), pp.322-38. [A longer version of the essay in the Lutheran Quarterly.] "Response to Benjamin W. Farley's 'Recurring Hermeneutical Principles in Calvin's Sermons, Polemical Treatises and Correspondence" in Peter De Klerk, ed., Calvin as Exegete (Grand Rapids, MI: Calvin Studies Society, 1995), pp.89-93. "Die Summe des Evangeliums - Die Erw ä hlungslehre in den Theologien von Alexander Schweizer und Karl Barth" in Michael Welker and David Willis, eds., Zur Zukunft der Reformierten Theologie: Aufgaben - Themen - Traditionen (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1998), pp.541-66; E.T. "The Sum of the Gospel: The Doctrine of Election in the Theologies of Alexander Schweizer and Karl Barth" in David Willis and Michael Welker, eds., Toward the Future of Reformed Theology: Tasks, Topics, Traditions (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1999), pp.470-93. "Setting the Mind on Things Above: The Immediate Practicality of Theoretical Knowledge of God" in Wallace M. Alston, Jr., ed., Theology in the Service of the Church: Essays in Honor of Thomas W. Gillespie (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2000), pp. 140-52. "Grace and Being: The Role of God's Gracious Election in Karl Barth's Theological Ontology" in John Webster, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Karl Barth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp.92-110. "Karl Barth" in Adrian Hastings, ed., The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), pp.64-7. "The Significance of Karl Barth's Theological Exegesis of Philippians" in Karl Barth, Epistle to the Philippians, 40 th Anniversary Edition (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), v-xxv. "The End of Reformed Theology? The Voice of Karl Barth in the Doctrinal Chaos of the Present", Wallace Alston, Jr. and Michael Welker, eds., Reformed Theology: Identity and Ecumenicity (Grand Rapids and Cambridge: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2003): 46-64. "The Being of Holy Scripture is in Becoming: Karl Barth in Conversation with American Evangelical Criticism" in Evangelicals and Scripture: Tradition, Authority and Hermeneutics, ed. by Vincent E. Bacote, Laura C. Migu é lez and Dennis L. Okholm (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2004), pp.55-75. "The Ontological Presuppositions of Barth's Doctrine of the Atonement" in The Glory of the Atonement: Biblical, Historical and Practical Perspectives, ed. by Charles E. Hill and Frank A. James III (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2004), pp. 346-66. "What's at Stake in Current Debates over Justification? The Crisis of Protestantism in the West" in Justification: What's at Stake in the Current Debates, ed. by Mark A. Husbands and Daniel J. Trier (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2004), pp.81-117. "Participation in God, Yes, Deification, No: Two Modern Protestant Responses to an Ancient Question" in Ingolf U. Dalferth, Johannes Fischer and Has-Peter Gro ß hans, eds., Denkw ü rdiges Geheimnis: Beitr ä ge zur Gotteslehre. Festschrift f ü r Eberhard J ü ngel zum 70. Geburtstag (T ü bingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004), pp.347-74. "An Open Letter to Eberhard J ü ngel on His 70 th Birthday", Wolfgang Erk and Dirk Evers, eds., F ü r Eberhard J ü ngel: Eine Festgabe (Stuttgart: Radius-Verlag, 2004), pp.78-9. "Der theologiegeschichtliche Ort Karl Barths" in Michael Beintker, Christian Link and Michael Trowitzsch, eds., Karl Barth in Deutschland (1921-1935): Aufbruch - Kl ä rung - Widerstand (Z ü rich: TVZ, 2005), pp.15-40. "Foreword" to Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology, ed. by Paul Louis Metzger (London: T & T Clark, 2005), pp.1-4. "Christ and the Decree: An Unsettled Question for the Reformed Churches Today" in Reformed Theology in Contemporary Perspective: Westminster: Yesterday, Today - and Tomorrow? ed. by Lynn Quigley (Edinburgh: Rutherford House, 2006), pp.124-42. "Preface" to Justification in Perspective: Historical Developments and Contemporary Challenges (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), 7-9. "Justitia Aliena: Karl Barth in Conversation with the Evangelical Doctrine of Imputed Righteousness" in Bruce L. McCormack, ed., Justification in Perspective: Historical Developments and Contemporary Challenges (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), 167-96. Reviews Sallie McFague, Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age in Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 8 (1990): 55-7. Simon Fisher, Revelatory Positivism? Barth's Earliest Theology and the Marburg School in Scottish Journal of Theology 43 (1990): 504-8. James O. Duke and Robert Streetman, eds., Barth and Schleiermacher: Beyond the Impasse? in Scottish Journal of Theology 44 (1991): 260-4. T.F. Torrance, Karl Barth, Biblical and Evangelical Theologian in Scottish Journal of Theology 45 (1992): 253-4. Nigel Biggar, ed., Reckoning with Barth: Essays in Commemoration of the Centenary of Karl Barth's Birth (London: Mowbray, 1988) in European Journal of Theology 1 (1992: 87-9. Richard Roberts, A Theology on Its Way? Essays on Karl Barth in Scottish Journal of Theology 47 (1994): 133-5. Nigel Bigger, The Hastening that Waits in Theology Today 51 (1994): 488-90. Karl Barth, The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life in Princeton Seminary Bulletin 25 (1994): 312-14. John Webster, Barth's Ethics of Reconciliation in Modern Theology 13 (1997): 273-6. Johann Friedrich Lohmann, Karl Barth und der Neukantianismus: Die Rezeption des Neukantianismus im "R ö merbrief" und ihre Bedeutung f ü r die weitere Ausarbeitung der Theologie Karl Barths in Journal of Religion 78 (Jan. 1998): 129-30. William Stacy Johnson, The Mystery of God: Karl Barth and the Postmodern Foundations of Theology in Theology Today 55 (1998): 458-60. Dawn DeVries, Jesus Christ in the Preaching of Calvin and Schleiermacher in Theology Today 55 (1998): 482-85. Eleanor Jackson, ed., The Question of Woman: The Collected Writings of Charlotte von Kirschbaum in Scottish Journal of Theology 52 (1999): 525-29. Timothy Gorringe, Against Hegemony in Scottish Journal of Theology 55 (2002): 236-9. Jointly Authored Articles "John Alexander Mackay", Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology (Edinburgh: T & T Clarke, 1993), pp.519-20. [Co-authored with R.J. Graham.] "Princeton Theological Seminary", Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology (Edinburgh: T & T Clarke, 1993), pp.677-8. [Co-authored with Mark Noll.] Top Forthcoming Publications Edited Volumes The Doctrine of God in Evangelical Theology Today. Papers from the 10 th Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference. To be published by Baker Academic, 2007. Journal Articles "Seek God Where He May Be Found: A Response to Edwin Chr. van Driel" in the Scottish Journal of Theology (early 2007) Chapters in Books "The Actuality of God: Karl Barth in Conversation with Open Theism" in Bruce L. McCormack, ed., The Doctrine of God in Evangelical Theology Today, Baker Academic, 2007. Top Works in Progress Books "Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology, vol.2: The Return of Church Dogmatics in the Schleiermacherian Tradition." "Reformed According to God's Word: What it Means to be `Reformed' Today" [The Osterhaven Lectures for 1998 at Western Theological Seminary. The Josephine So Lectures for 2000 at the China Graduate School of Theology, Hong Kong. It should be noted that the invitation to do the Osterhaven Lectures came with the promise of a publication with Wm. B. Eerdmans upon completion of revisions. "The Humility of the Son: A Exercise in Reformed Kenoticism." The Scottish Journal of Theology Lectures for 2007. [Book contract with Cambridge University Press tied to this invitation Top Lectures, Conference Presentations "For Us and Our Salvation: Incarnation and Atonement in the Reformed Tradition". Paper presented at the third session of the official dialogue between the Orthodox Churches and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Kappel am Albis, Switzerland, March 9-15, 1992. "Radical Autonomy or Communicative Freedom? Divine Election and Human Freedom in the Theology of Karl Barth". Lecture given at the Sixth Biennial Barth Conference sponsored by the "Institute for Mission in the U.S.A." (Trinity Lutheran Seminary) and Luther Northwestern Seminary (St. Paul), June 20-22, 1994. "Knowing God". Paper presented at "God For Us Today: Jews, Christians and Muslims in Conversation", an inter-faith dialogue sponsored by The Institute for Jewish, Christian & Islamic Studies and Relations and the Office of Religious Life at Princeton University and held at the Woodrow Wilson School, 16 October 1994. "The Von Balthasar Thesis and the Myth of the Neo-orthodox Barth". Annual Meeting of the Karl Barth Society of North America, Chicago, IL, November 18, 1994. "Beyond Nonfoundational and Postmodern Readings of Barth: Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology". Paper Presented to Seminars at the Universities of Aberdeen, St. Andrews, and London, 19, 22, and 23 April 1996. "Revelation and History in Transfoundational Perspective: Karl Barth's Theological Epistemology in Conversation with a Schleiermacherian Tradition". Symposium on Revelation and History in Honour of Brian A. Gerrish, University of Chicago School of Divinity, 3 May 1996. " Credo unam ecclesiam: The Unity of the Church in the Theology of Karl Barth" and "The Role of Doctrine in Identifying Church Unity." Two lectures given at the Seventh Biennial Barth Conference Sponsored by the "Institute for Mission in the U.S.A." (of Trinity Lutheran Seminary) and Luther Seminary (St. Paul), June 22-24, 1996. "Christ and the Decree: An Unsettled Question for the Reformed Churches Today." [A lecture given 3 September 1997 at the Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference entitled: "Westminster: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow? The Significance of the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms for Contemporary Reformed Theology".] "Dankeswort", An address given before a gathering of members and guests of the Evangelischer Kirche der Union on December 16, 1998 in Berlin (on the occasion of the awarding to me of the Karl Barth Prize for 1998). "Str ö mungen in der zeitgen ö ssischen anglo-amerikanischen Barth-Exegese: Ü berlegungen eines nachdenklich gestimmten ungebeugten Modernisten" [Guest Lecture on the Occasion of the Thirty Anniversary of the Death of Karl Barth at the University of Basel on December 18, 1998.] "The Doctrine of Predestination: A Necessary Article of Faith." Three Lectures given at the First Presbyterian Church of Thomasville, Georgia, September 17-19, 2000. "Reformed According to God's Word: What It Means to be `Reformed' Today." [The Josephine So Lectures, China Graduate School of Theology, Jan.3-5, 2001.] "The Being of Holy Scripture is in Becoming: Karl Barth in Conversation with American Evangelical Criticism" [Lecture given at the 10th Annual Wheaton College Theology Conference, April 5, 2001.] "Schism and Disruption." [A paper presented to the "Ecclesiology/Ecumenism Study Group", sponsored by the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology which met in Princeton, NJ, August 4, 2001.] "The Relevance of the Doctrine of the Trinity." [A lecture to be given in September 2001 at the Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland, August 27, 2001]. "The Significance of Karl Barth's Theological Exegesis of Philippians." Annual meeting of the Karl Barth Society of North American, Denver, Colordado, November 16, 2001. "The Barth Renaissance in America: An Opinion." A presentation given at the colloquium "Karl Barths Theologie im 21. Jahrhundert: Perspektiven ihrer Bedeutung f ü r die Gegenswartsfragen des Christentums" in Basel, Switzerland, April 12, 2002. "What Has Basel to Do with Berlin: The Return of 'Church Dogmatics' in the Schleiermacherian Tradition." Inaugural Address given in Miller Chapel, Princeton Theological Seminary, 24 April 2002. "Barths Grunds ä tzlicher Chalcedonismus?" Lecture given at the 33 rd Karl-Barth-Tagung on the Leuenberg, Canton Basel-land, Switzerland, July 22, 2002. "The Being of Holy Scripture is in Becoming: Karl Barth in Conversation with American Evangelical Criticism." Lecture given at Westminster Theological Seminary, Nov.1, 2002. "What Has Basel to Do with Berlin: The Return of 'Church Dogmatics' in the Schleiermacherian Tradition." Lecture given at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, on December 3, 2002 and the University of Jena, Germany, on December 6, 2002. "What's At Stake in Current Debates Over Justification? The Crisis of Protestantism in the West." Lecture given at the 12 Annual Wheaton College Theology Conference, April 11, 2003. "Der theologiegeschichtliche Ort Karl Barths." Lecture given at 1 st International Barth Congress, sponsored by the Barth-Gesellschaft, Emden, Germany, May 1-4, 2003. " Justitia Aliena: Karl Barth in Conversation with the Evangelical Doctrine of Imputed Righteousness" [Lecture given at the Rutherford House Dogmatics Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland, August 26, 2003.] "The One, the Three and the Many: A Tribute to Colin Gunton." Lecture given at the Reformed Theology and History Section of the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in Atlanta, George, November 21, 2003. "Dankesworte" - an address given before the Theological Faculty of the Friedrich Schiller Universit ä t, Jena, upon receipt of an honorary doctorate, May 25, 2004. "Theology and Science: Karl Barth's Contribution to an Ongoing Debate." Paper presented at a Doctoral Colloquium at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universit ä t, Jena, May 26, 2004. "Protestant Identity as a Theological Problem." Lecture given in Kampen, Holland at a conference celebrating the 150 th anniversary of the founding of that Theological University of Kampen, September 3, 2004. The theme of the conference is "Reshaping Protestantism in a Global Context." "The Foundation of the Christian Life in the Theology of John Calvin." Public lecture given as part of the Reformation Day Lecture series at Covenant College, Lookout Mountain Tennessee on October 25-26, 2004. [The "series" comprised, in addition to this lecture, two chapel addresses entitled "A Strong and Perfect Plea" and "Humility of Mind."] "Incarnation and Kenosis in Phil.2:6-11." Paper given at a regional gathering of the Evangelical Theological Society in Souderton, Pennsylvania, April 1, 2005. "The Actuality of God: Karl Barth in Conversation with Molinism and Open Theism." Paper given at the 11 th Rutherford House Dogmatics Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, August 30, 2005. "Why a Low-Churchman Signed the Princeton Proposal." Paper given on "In One Body Through the Cross: The Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity" at an Ecumenical Conference on the Problems and Prospects Facing Church Unity sponsored by the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology and held at the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, NJ, September 13, 2005. "Karl Barth's Christology as Resource for a Reformed Version of Kenoticism." A Paper Delivered at the "Internationale Karl Barth-Konferenz" in Heidelberg, Germany, October 29, 2005. "Overcoming Barth ... with Schleiermacher?" A Paper Delivered in Jena, Germany, May 26, 2006. "With Loud Cries and Tears: The Humanness of the Son in the Epistle to the Hebrews." A Paper Delivered at a Conference on "Hebrews and Christian Theology" in St. Andrews, Scotland, July 19, 2006.
Top PTS Profile

Copyright 2006 Princeton Theological Seminary
P.O. Box 821, Princeton, NJ 08542-0803 1(609)921-8300
An Institution of the Presbyterian Church (USA)