新澳门开奖结果

Karl Barth in 1956. Photo by Hans Lachmann-

Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Karl Barth

Karl Barth was a Swiss Calvinist theologian. He was best known for his commentary on The Epistle to the Romans, his authorship of the Barmen Declaration, his involvement in the Confessing Church, and his unfinished Church Dogmatics.

He began to gain worldwide recognition with the publication in 1921 of the second edition of his commentary, The Epistle to the Romans, in which he only broke from liberal theology. He inspired many significant theologians, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who supported the Confessing Church.

Learn more about Karl Barth in these top 10 remarkable facts.

1. Karl Barth Was Born in 1886

He was born on May 10, 1886, in Basel, Switzerland, to Johann Friedrich 鈥淔ritz鈥� Barth (1852-1912) and Anna Katharina (Sartorius) Barth (1863-1938). Karl had two younger brothers, Peter Barth and Heinrich Barth, and two sisters, Katharina and Gertrude.

His father was a theology professor and pastor and desired Karl to follow his positive line of Christianity. This clashed with Karl鈥檚 desire to receive a liberal protestant education.

2. Karl Was a Pastor as Well as a Scholar

Karl began his student career at the University of Bern and later transferred to the University of Berlin to study under Adolf von Harnack. He later transferred briefly to the University of Tubingen before finally to Marburg to study under Wilhelm Herrmann.

He served as a Reformed pastor in the village of Safenwil in the canton of Aargau from 1911 to 1921. Later he was a professor of theology in Gottingen, Munster and Bonn in Germany.

While serving at Gottingen, he met Charlotte von Kirschbaum, who became his long-time secretary and assistant; she played a large role in writing his epic, the Church Dogmatics.

Karl was deported from Germany in 1935 after he refused to sign the Oath of Loyalty to Adolf Hitler and went back to Switzerland and became a professor in Basel (1935-1962).

3. Karl Wrote His Commentary 鈥淭he Epistle to the Romans鈥�

German stamp, showing Karl Barth. Photo sourced from

He began his commentary The Epistle to the Romans in the summer of 1916 and the first edition appeared in December 1918. The strength of the first edition made him get invited to teach at the University of Gottingen.

In October 1920, Karl started to revise it heavily for the following eleven months and finished it around September 1921. This work emphasizes the saving grace of God and humanity’s inability to know God outside of God鈥檚 revelation in Christ.

He argued that God, who is revealed in the cross of Jesus, challenges and overthrows any attempt to ally God with human culture, possessions and achievements. The work is famous for its use of dialectic, but some scholars have argued that Barth also makes extensive use of analogy in his work.

4. Karl Was a Leader in the Anti-Nazi Movement

In 1934, as the protestant church tried to come to terms with Nazi Germany, Karl was largely responsible for writing the Barmen Declaration. This declaration denounced the influence of Nazism on German Christianity.

The rejection argued that the church鈥檚 allegiance to the God of Jesus Christ should give it the impetus and resources to resist the influence of other lords, such as the German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler.

Karl mailed this declaration to Hitler personally. He was then forced to resign from his professorship at the University of Bonn in 1935 for refusing to swear an oath to Hitler. Karl then returned to his native Switzerland, where he assumed a chair in systematic theology at the University of Basel.

5. Karl’s Greatest Work Was 鈥淐hurch Dogmatics鈥�

Karl Barth in 1956. Photo by Hans Lachmann-

Church Dogmatics is one of the most important theological works of centuries. It represents the pinnacle of Karl’s achievement as a theologian, having been published in thirteen books from 1932 to 1967.

The Church Dogmatics is divided into five volumes the doctrine of God, Creation, Redemption, Reconciliation and the Word of God. His planned fifth volume was never written and the fourth volume final part-volume, was unfinished.

6. Karl’s Views on Mary

Unlike most protestant theologians, Karl wrote on the topic of Mariology (the theological study of Mary). His views about Mary agreed with much Catholic dogma, but he disagreed with the Catholic veneration of Mary.

Karl fully accepted the dogma of Mary as the mother of God, seeing a rejection of that as equivalent to rejecting the doctrine that Christ鈥檚 human and divine natures are inseparable. Through Mary, Jesus belongs to the human race and through Jesus, Mary is the mother of God.

7. There is a Center for Karl Barth Studies

In 1962, Karl was lecturing at the Princeton Theological Seminary. The seminary now houses the Center for Barth Studies, which is dedicated to supporting scholarship related to the life and theology of Karl Barth.

The Karl center was established in 1997 and sponsors conferences, seminars and other events. It also has the Karl Barth Research Collection.

 The Karl Barth Research Collection is the largest in the world, and it contains nearly all of Barth鈥檚 works in English and German, several first editions of his works and an original handwritten manuscript by Barth.

8. Karl Barth’s Perspective on Salvation

German stamp, showing Karl Barth. Photo sourced from

His views on salvation are centrally Christological, with his writings stating that in Jesus Christ, the reconciliation of all humankind to God has essentially already taken place. That through Christ, man is already elect and justified.

Karl denied being a Universalist, but he asserted that eternal salvation for everyone, even those that reject God, is a possibility that is not just an open question but should be hoped for by Christians as a matter of grace.

9. Karl Had an Unconventional Family Life

Much of Karl’s work was undertaken with the help of Charlotte von Kirschbaum, his secretary and theological assistant. Charlotte von Kirschbaum subordinated her career to his and didn鈥檛 receive the recognition she deserved. Their close relationship created tension within his immediate and wider Family.

10. Karl Barth Didn鈥檛 Believe in Inerrancy

Karl was not a conservative evangelical, which didn鈥檛 make him a liberal. He didn鈥檛 believe in the inerrancy of Scripture; he thought respecting the Bible as inerrant was using a foundation other than Christ, which was idolatrous.

However, he believed the bible was fundamental about God, who was 鈥淲holly Other.鈥� He has been portrayed as 鈥渘eo-orthodox,鈥� though he rejected the term.