The Authority of the Bible and the Church Fathers in Adolf von Harnack’s Thought

Abstract

This article begins with an analysis of Adolf von Harnack’s research on biblical and patristic sources in regard to the development of the authoritative church. I provide a close textual analysis of Harnack’s The Origin of the New Testament and the Most Important Consequences of the New Creation (1914). This analysis shows that Harnack regarded biblical and patristic sources as extremely meaningful, as they provide a trustworthy account of the origins of Christianity, but they were also open to critical analysis. I continue this investigation with a close textual reading of Harnack’s correspondence with Karl Barth from 1923, in which the two theologians discussed, among other topics, the possibility of talking about God. I argue that we should place Harnack’s analysis of the biblical and patristic sources within a broader epistemological reflection on the possibilities of human knowledge, to which Harnack dedicated a great deal of attention, even if he did not develop it systematically in his vast literary production.

Keywords

• adolf von harnack
• karl barth
• authority
• biblical sources
• patristic sources
• epistemology
• philosophy of religion