It is better that the theme of a Presidential Address should be too general than that it should be too specific. On this occasion I propose that together we traverse familiar ground. Beginning with the broad river of Christian doctrine as we have it in the Epistles of St. Paul, let us take our way up-stream, trying to trace afresh some of the channels by which it is linked with the living springs that come from Jesus.

In his endeavour to expound the Parables of Jesus, the preacher who turns for help to the work of modern New Testament scholars will not be disappointed. Certainly the present writer has put himself very much in their debt. At the same time there are rules and definitions by which some modern scholars restrict the understanding of the parables in a way that is often baffling to the preacher. As the parables, however, are peculiarly the domain of the preacher, it would appear that these elements require further discussion and clarification if he is to get full benefit from recent research and do justice to the kerygmatic setting in which we have received the parables.

The Institutes is a long and detailed essay upon the know-ledge of God, not a well-constructed and comprehensive system of theology, a kind of Reformed Summa Theologica. It was this problem of the knowledge of God which constituted the real disagreement with Rome, and in the Institutes Calvin works out from the Scriptures the Reformed doctrine of the knowledge of God to stand in opposition to the contemporary and scholastic Roman doctrine based upon the synthesis of the Scriptures and Greek philosophy. When once this is understood, the different doctrines treated in the book fall easily into their places in relation to the central theme, the knowledge of God.

It may be useful first of all to summarise the argument under this heading in the Institutes, both to set limits to our subject, and also to furnish us with points of reference for our discussion. The preceding chapters deal with the operation of the Holy Spirit in those who are united with Christ, especially showing Him to be the author of faith and repentance. Our subject is placed in this setting at the beginning of chapter 6, where, in the opening sentence we read: “ We have said that the end of regeneration is, that the life of the faithful may exhibit a symmetry and agreement between the righteousness of God and their obedience.” The roots of the Christian life, then, are in regeneration. But since “ our tardiness needs much stimulation and assistance ” it is necessary for us to have a rule by which we may be guided in the regulation of our life. Such a rule is to be found in Scripture, not, of course, laid down in a methodical way, yet with sufficient emphasis and clarity. This treatment of the Christian life, therefore, confines itself to discovering, under the guidance of Scripture, how the new life born in us by God's Spirit, is to be developed and made perfect.

Volume III of the Dogmatik is concerned with creation, and the first part dealt with the act of creation, elucidating from a specifically Christian point of view the relation of creation and covenant. In this second part, it is the creature which is studied. For a theology bound to the Word of God, the questions at issue concern the nature of man, and the enquiry is controlled by the fact of God having become man. The material which is handled in this vast volume is a selection from man's varied attempts to speak about himself. The aim is to illuminate and to correct the speech of the contemporary Christian Church on this subject, and to do so by proper theological method and criteria. The resultant doctrine may not be very different from what is said in section I (A) of the Lambeth Report Part II, but one cannot help asking whether the statements made there have been reached by the searching discipline of dogmatic theology, practised with the seriousness found in Barth's work. His declared purpose is to seek “comprehensive clarifications in theology, and about theology itself”, which will give the Church strength to offer “clarifications in the broad field of politics”, a strength which is not strikingly obvious in the Lambeth conclusions about “The Church and the Modern World” and “The Christian Way of Life”.