The Trinitarian Revelation in Barth and Marion: From Dogmatic Theology to Radical Phenomenology of Revelation

The article analyzes the structure of revelation in the dogmatic theology of Karl Barth, as the source of French phenomenology, specifically in Jean-Luc Marion’s latest works on revelation. The investigation aims to determine how the doctrine of the unpaired unity and unpaired distinction of the Revealer, the revelation, and the Revealedness can inform a phenomenology of revelation, suggesting its structure and form. As a direct consequence of this Barthian influence, the classic question regarding the purity of the boundaries of both disciplines arises. Can a phenomenon such as a Trinitarian revelation, a phenomenon that exceeds the finitude of cognitive reason, appear within the realm of Evidenz, or is it, instead, a direct inheritance of an article of faith that is then placed into phenomenology? A preliminary answer suggests that Barth’s conception of the structure of revelation is not a static concept that cannot be thematized by phenomenology, but rather one that needs to be founded on the ground of experience. In this sense, dogmatic theology and the radical phenomenology of revelation can work together in unveiling the same phenomenon.