"We should all take Gunton's advice and read as much of Barth as we can because 'the people that write about him are much more boring than he is' (p. 9)!  However, we may like to make at least one exception with The Barth Lectures." -Scott Harrower, Themelios

'This is an unusual, and unusually enjoyable book for several reasons. First, it is a lasting memorial to Colin Gunton's skill and passion as a theological educator...Second they were so faithfully heard and transcribed that those privileged to be there, can hear the voice, envisage the face, recall the energy and passion of Gunton in full theological flow. Third, the book is one person's transcribed and edited account (Paul Brazier) of the views of one of the best British theologians in a generation (Colin Gunton), expounding the 20th Century's most influential European Protestant Theologian (Karl Barth). Fourth, because the lectures are recorded pretty much verbatim, and with diagrams and charts and explanatory sections and questions for further discussion, the book reads often like a handbook to major divisions of the Church Dogmatics, with short focused sections making up carefully structured chapters. This series of lectures provide as accessible a way up into Barth's higher altitudes as I know...These lectures demonstrate how to engage with Barth, to use him as a massive presence to be tackled because he is there, and then to start climbing.'   The Living Wittily blog ttp://livingwittily.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/10/this-book-was-m.html

Title mention in Theology, January 2008

"This is a quirky and fantastic introduction to the theology of Karl Barth...The Barth Lectures is a concise and very readable introduction to the theology of Karl Barth by one of the foremost English theologians of the twentieth century. The transcriptions, which include solecisms characteristic of off-the-cuff ruminations, come across as charming rather than annoying and are able to bring Barth's lofty ideas down with clear descriptions. Perhaps the book's most important contribution is Gunton's occasional call to his students to read Barth for oneself. "You must read it!" he pleads at several points. Because of Gunton's insight and obvious enthusiasm for the subject, his reader is certain to do just that." -Andrew Zack Lewis, Religious Studies Review, September 2008

"A remarkable book ... The whole of the lectures weave together strands of theology, historical theology, theologians and meaning in such a helpful way that a theological student might well ask, why didn't I travel to London and study with Gunton for a time?" Ashland Theological Journal

"The lecture material is presented in an engaging and lucid fashion. Offering an approach which manages to introduce the novice in an accessible way to something of the vision and profundity of Barth's theological enterprise is a significant achievement in its own right. Second, the lecture transcripts preserve a number of comments and asides in which G. makes percipient observations and raises pertinent questions about the work of Barth ... Third, the lecture format allows for there to be communicated clearly and immediately the enthusiasm of G. for theology in general and for Barth in particular."   Theologische Literaturzeitung, 2009