May 10: Happy Birthday, Karl Barth!
Christianity does not accept any leader beside God
Today is the birthday anniversary of Karl Barth, a Swiss theologian who had a huge influence on 20th century Christian theology.
Karl Barth (1886–1968) was born on 10 May 1886, in Basel, Switzerland. He studied theology and later became a professor and worked at various universities in Germany. In 1935, he refused to sign an oath to Hitler, and was deported back to Switzerland, where he taught theology in Basel until his death.
Karl Barth (1886-1968)
In 1921, Barth published the second edition of his commentary on The Epistle to the Romans. In it, he argued that understanding God necessitated a radical reorientation — one that centred on Jesus Christ. He rejected anthropocentric and politicised approaches to religion and emphasised divine agency, although later he himself would take part in the political discussions of his day.
Barth always stood firm against the rise of the Nazi state in Germany. As part of the Confessing Church, he authored the Barmen Declaration, which rejected the cooperation of the church with the Nazis. His commitment to biblical truth extended beyond academia, resonating with those who resisted totalitarianism.
His magnum opus was the Church Dogmatics, a five-volume, 9000-page work on theology, which he did not manage to finish. In it, he talks about the nature of God, redemption, and human existence.
Barth became well-known outside theological circles. Time magazine featured him on its cover in 1962 — an unusual honour for a theologian.
The evening before his death, he had encouraged a lifelong friend not to be downhearted, “For things are ruled, not just in Moscow or in Washington or in Peking, but things are ruled – even here on earth — entirely from above, from heaven above.”
Happy Birthday, Karl Barth!
