Karl Barth

For the American Lutheran minister, see Karl L. Barth.

Karl Barth
Barth in 1956
Born(1886-05-10)10 May 1886
Basel, Switzerland
Died10 December 1968(1968-12-10) (aged 82)
Basel, Switzerland
EducationUniversity of Bern
University of Berlin
University of Tübingen
Notable work
TitleTheologian, professor
Spouse
Nelly Hoffmann
​
(m. 1913)​
Children5, including Markus and Christoph Barth [de]
OrdinationChurch of Aargau (Swiss Reformed Church)
Theological work
Era20th century
Tradition or movement
Part of a series on
Reformed Christianity
Reformation Wall in Geneva, featuring prominent Reformed theologians William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox
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Christianity • Protestantism

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Karl Barth (/bɑːrt, bɑːrθ/;[1] German: [bart]; (1886-05-10)10 May 1886 – (1968-12-10)10 December 1968) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary The Epistle to the Romans, his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declaration,[2][3] and especially his unfinished multi-volume theological summa the Church Dogmatics[4] (published between 1932–1967).[5][6] Barth's influence expanded well beyond the academic realm to mainstream culture, leading him to be featured on the cover of Time on 20 April 1962.[7]

Like many Protestant theologians of his generation, Barth was educated in a liberal theology influenced by Adolf von Harnack, Friedrich Schleiermacher and others.[8] His pastoral career began in the rural Swiss town of Safenwil, where he was known as the "Red Pastor from Safenwil".[9] There he became increasingly disillusioned with the liberal Christianity in which he had been trained. This led him to write the first edition of his The Epistle to the Romans (a.k.a. Romans I), published in 1919, in which he resolved to read the New Testament differently.

Barth began to gain substantial worldwide acclaim with the publication in 1921 of the second edition of his commentary, The Epistle to the Romans, in which he openly broke from liberal theology.[10]

He influenced many significant theologians such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer who supported the Confessing Church, and Jürgen Moltmann, Helmut Gollwitzer, James H. Cone, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Rudolf Bultmann, Thomas F. Torrance, Hans Küng, and also Reinhold Niebuhr, Jacques Ellul, and novelists such as Flannery O'Connor, John Updike, and Miklós Szentkuthy.

Among many other areas, Barth has also had a profound influence on modern Christian ethics,[11][12][13][14] influencing the work of ethicists such as Stanley Hauerwas, John Howard Yoder, Jacques Ellul and Oliver O'Donovan.[11][15][16]

  1. ^ "Barth". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. ^ Houtz, Wyatt (4 April 2018). "Karl Barth and the Barmen Declaration (1934)". The PostBarthian. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Karl Barth – Christian History".
  4. ^ "The Life of Karl Barth: Church Dogmatics Vol IV: The Doctrine of Reconciliation 1953–1967 (Part 7)". The PostBarthian. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  5. ^ Name (Boston Collaborative Encyclopedia of Western Theology). People.bu.edu. Retrieved on 15 July 2012.
  6. ^ Houtz, Wyatt (21 April 2016). "Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics Original Publication Dates". The PostBarthian. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Theologian Karl Barth", Time, 20 April 1962, retrieved 23 February 2019
  8. ^ Houtz, Wyatt (18 April 2018). "The Life of Karl Barth: Early Life from Basel to Geneva 1886–1913 (Part 1)". The PostBarthian. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  9. ^ Houtz, Wyatt (3 October 2017). "The Romans commentary by the Red Pastor of Safenwil: Karl Barth's Epistle to the Romans". The PostBarthian. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  10. ^ Houtz, Wyatt (18 April 2018). "The Life of Karl Barth: Early Life from Basel to Geneva 1886–1913 (Part 2)". The PostBarthian. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  11. ^ a b Parsons, Michael (1987). "Man Encountered by the Command of God: the Ethics of Karl Barth" (PDF). Vox Evangelica. 17: 48–65. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  12. ^ Daniel L. Migliore (15 August 2010). Commanding Grace: Studies in Karl Barth's Ethics. W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-6570-0.
  13. ^ Matthew J. Aragon-Bruce. Ethics in Crisis: Interpreting Barth's Ethics (book review) Princeton Seminary Library. Retrieved on 15 July 2012. Archived 9 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Oxford University Press: The Hastening that Waits: Nigel Biggar Archived 20 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Oup.com. Retrieved on 15 July 2012.
  15. ^ Journal – The Influence of Karl Barth on Christian Ethics. www.kevintaylor.me (7 April 2011). Retrieved on 15 July 2012. Archived 23 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Choi Lim Ming, Andrew (2003). A Study on Jacques Ellul's Dialectical Approach to the Modern and Spiritual World. wordpress.com