Difference between revisions of "Karl Barth"

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==Affilliation==
 
Karl Barth (1886 - 1968)
 
Professor of Theology, University of Basel
 
==Gifford Lectures==
 
  
[http://www.giffordlectures.org/Browse.asp?PubID=TPKSTR&Cover=TRUE * 1937–1938:The Knowledge of God and the Service of God according to the Teaching of the Reformation]
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'''Karl Barth''' May 10, 1886 – December 10, 1968) was a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformed_churches Swiss Reformed theologian]. Barth is often regarded as the greatest Protestant theologian of the twentieth century.  His influence expanded well beyond the [[academic]] realm to [[mainstream]] culture, leading him to be featured on the cover of Time on April 20, 1962.
  
==Biography==
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Beginning with his experience as a pastor, Barth rejected his training in the predominant [[liberal theology]] typical of 19th-century European Protestantism, as well as more conservative forms of Christianity.[4][5] Instead he embarked on a new theological path initially called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_theology dialectical theology], due to its stress on the paradoxical nature of [[divine]] [[truth]] (e.g., God's relationship to humanity embodies both [[grace]] and [[judgment]]). Barth's unease with the dominant theology which characterized Europe led him to become a leader in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessing_Church Confessing Church] in Germany, which actively opposed Adolf Hitler and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_regime Nazi regime]. In particular, Barth and other members of the movement vigorously attempted to prevent the Nazis from taking over the existing church and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reich_Church establishing a state church controlled by the regime]. This culminated in Barth's authorship of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barmen_Declaration Barmen Declaration], which fiercely criticized Christians who supported the Nazis.
Karl Barth was born in Basel, Germany, on 10 May 1886. His father, theologian Fritz Barth, took the family to Berne in 1889 when he took up the university chair as Professor of Church History and New Testament Exegesis. Fritz’s position and interests meant that Karl was exposed to theological [[inquiry|enquiry]] from an early age.
 
  
At the age of sixteen Barth decided to become a theologian, and in 1904 (at eighteen) he began his studies at the University of Berne, initially taking instruction from his father. By the time Barth had completed his studies in 1909, he had studied at some of Germany’s finest institutions, spending time at Berlin, [[Tübingen]] and Marburg, in addition to Berne. In 1906, while at Berlin, Barth came into contact with [[Adolf von Harnack]], whose advocating of the ‘liberal theology’ had an enormous impact on Barth’s thinking over the ensuing decade. Barth became an apprentice pastor in Geneva in 1909 and then pastor of the Swiss village Safenwil in 1911. He spent many of his years preaching in accordance with von Harnack’s teachings. However, he came to reject the reformed and liberal tendencies, finding them unsuited to the problems of his parish and to his own personal journey. As Barth saw it, the tendency in [[natural theology]] is to reach for the best views of modern science and [[philosophy]] and bring [[Christianity]] into reconciliation with them. This evaded what Barth saw as most essential and positive in theology, that is, the task of developing its appeal through word and example (action), a matter more apt to the pulpit. His Epistle to the Romans (1919; trans. 1933) was testament to his changing views.
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Many critics have referred to Barth as the father of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-orthodoxy neo-orthodoxy] — a term emphatically [[rejected]] by Barth himself. A more accurate description of his work might be "a theology of the Word." Barth's work had a profound impact on twentieth century theology and figures such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer] — who like Barth became a leader in the Confessing Church.
  
During the 1920s Barth taught theology at the University of Göttingen and later at the University of Münster. Much of his work there sought to challenge von Harnack’s teaching, placing it, at best, as preliminary to the highest end of theology, which Barth identified with preaching. Barth took up such themes in his Gifford Lectures ‘The Knowledge of God and the Service of God According to the Teaching of the Reformation’ (delivered in Aberdeen, 1937–1938). Despite the high regard and recognition that those appointed to deliver the Gifford lecturers in any particular year were immediately afforded, Barth was more famous for his [[Church Dogmatics]], a fourteen-volume work which he continued to develop throughout his life and which remained incomplete at his death. In 1930 Barth had taken up a chair at the University of Bonn. His outspokenness against the Nazi party in 1934 meant that he was forced to leave Germany, and he returned to Basel (1935) where he taught theology until his retirement in 1962. His work was highly influential worldwide.
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One of the most prolific and influential theologians of the twentieth century, Barth emphasized the [[sovereignty of God]], particularly through his reinterpretation of the Calvinistic doctrine of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination election], the sinfulness of [[humanity]], and the "infinite qualitative distinction between God and mankind". His most famous works are his [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Epistle_to_the_Romans_(Barth) The Epistle to the Romans], which marked a clear break from his earlier [[thinking]]; and his massive thirteen-volume work ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Dogmatics Church Dogmatics]'', one of the largest works of systematic theology ever written.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Barth]
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==Gifford Lectures==
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[https://www.giffordlectures.org/Browse.asp?PubID=TPKSTR&Cover=TRUE * 1937–1938:The Knowledge of God and the Service of God according to the Teaching of the Reformation]
  
Barth was married in 1913 and had five children (four sons and a daughter). He died in Basel on 10 December 1968.
 
==Bibliography==
 
Some of his works include: Epistle to the Romans (1919; trans. 1933); Die Christliche Dogmatik in Entwurf (1927); The Word of God and the Word of Man (1928); Church Dogmatics (1932); The Knowledge of God and the Service of God According to the Reformation (1938); ‘No!’, in Natural Theology (1946); Dogmatics in Outline (1949); Anselm: Fides Quaerens Intellectum. Anselm’s Proof of the Existence of God in the Context of His Theological Scheme (1960); The Humanity of God (1961); and Evangelical Theology (1963).
 
  
 
[[Category: Philosophy]]
 
[[Category: Philosophy]]
 
[[Category: Religion]]
 
[[Category: Religion]]
 
[[Category: Biography]]
 
[[Category: Biography]]

Latest revision as of 01:40, 13 December 2020

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Karl Barth May 10, 1886 – December 10, 1968) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is often regarded as the greatest Protestant theologian of the twentieth century. His influence expanded well beyond the academic realm to mainstream culture, leading him to be featured on the cover of Time on April 20, 1962.

Beginning with his experience as a pastor, Barth rejected his training in the predominant liberal theology typical of 19th-century European Protestantism, as well as more conservative forms of Christianity.[4][5] Instead he embarked on a new theological path initially called dialectical theology, due to its stress on the paradoxical nature of divine truth (e.g., God's relationship to humanity embodies both grace and judgment). Barth's unease with the dominant theology which characterized Europe led him to become a leader in the Confessing Church in Germany, which actively opposed Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. In particular, Barth and other members of the movement vigorously attempted to prevent the Nazis from taking over the existing church and establishing a state church controlled by the regime. This culminated in Barth's authorship of the Barmen Declaration, which fiercely criticized Christians who supported the Nazis.

Many critics have referred to Barth as the father of neo-orthodoxy — a term emphatically rejected by Barth himself. A more accurate description of his work might be "a theology of the Word." Barth's work had a profound impact on twentieth century theology and figures such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer — who like Barth became a leader in the Confessing Church.

One of the most prolific and influential theologians of the twentieth century, Barth emphasized the sovereignty of God, particularly through his reinterpretation of the Calvinistic doctrine of election, the sinfulness of humanity, and the "infinite qualitative distinction between God and mankind". His most famous works are his The Epistle to the Romans, which marked a clear break from his earlier thinking; and his massive thirteen-volume work Church Dogmatics, one of the largest works of systematic theology ever written.[1]

Gifford Lectures

* 1937–1938:The Knowledge of God and the Service of God according to the Teaching of the Reformation