‘Freedom from death’ and ‘freedom to death’: Karl Barth’s doctrine of death re-examined through the lens of apocalyptic patterns

This essay examines Barth’s doctrine of death in Church Dogmatics III/2 §47 through the lens of forensic and cosmological apocalyptic patterns proposed by Pauline scholar Martinus de Boer. Despite extensive Barth scholarship, Barth’s doctrine of death remains relatively underexplored, particularly its apocalyptic characteristics. This essay seeks to address this gap by first distinguishing between two types of death in Barth’s framework: “natural death” and “evil death.” It then utilizes de Boer’s apocalyptic patterns to analyze Barth’s discussion of evil death. The essay contends that elements of both patterns are present and closely intertwined in Barth’s treatment. Finally, this analysis deepens our understanding of Barth’s soteriology, demonstrating that Christ’s crucifixion grants us not only “freedom from death” but also “freedom to death.” In other words, those in Christ are liberated from the enslavement to evil death and are liberated for the natural death corresponding to their divine determination.