Early Christian writers preferred to speak of the coming resurrection in the most bodily way possible: the resurrection of the flesh. The twentieth-century theologian Karl Barth took the same approach, daring to speak of humans' eternal life in striking corporeal terms. In this study, Nathan Hitchcock pulls together Barth's doctrine of the resurrection of the flesh, anticipating what the great thinker might have said more systematically in volume V of his Church Dogmatics. Hitchcock provocatively goes on to argue that Barth's description of the resurrection - as eternalization, as manifestation, as incorporation - bears much in common with some unlikely programmes and, contrary to its intention, jeopardises the very contours of human life it hopes to preserve. In addition to contributing to studies of Barth, this book offers a sober warning to theologians pursuing eschatology through notions of participation.

Nathan Hitchcock is Assistant Professor of Church History and Theology at Sioux Falls Seminary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

'In this engaging monograph, Hitchcock offers a challenging exploration and analysis of Karl Barth's theology of the resurrection. This is detailed in its presentation, provocative in its critique, and lucid throughout. Hitchcock's study is set to be an important conversation partner in the fields of Barth studies in particular and eschatology in general.' Paul T. Nimmo, Lecturer of Theology, New College, Edinburgh.

'In this profound and sophisticated study Nathan Hitchcock explores what has been an astonishingly undertreated feature of [Barth's] work. He depicts the role of carnal resurrection, with regard to the eschatological binding of persons to the salvific history of God's humanization, and the locus of life as reconciled life being redeemed through the categories of eternalization, manifestation, and incorporation. Readers will be swept along by Hitchcock's deft critical touch.' John C. McDowell, Professor of Theology, University of Newcastle, New South Wales.