Karl Barth

@Theologians, Life Achievements and Family ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Karl Barth was an important Swiss theologian Republicans Swiss Intellectuals & Academics Theologians Taurus Celebrities Karl Barth, a Swiss Reformed theologian, is often regarded as the greatest Protestant theologian of the twentieth century. Beginning with his experience as a pastor, he rejected the predominant liberal theology typical of 19th-century European Protestantism. He became a leader in the Confessing Church in Germany, which actively opposed Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. In particular, he 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. He authored the Barmen Declaration, which fiercely criticized Christians who supported the Nazis. An extremely voluminous writer, his most famous works are: ‘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. His major contribution was a radical change in the direction of theology from a 19th-century orientation toward progress to an orthodoxy that had to cope with the grim realities of the 20th century especially in the post WW II period. Theologians such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer — who like Barth became a leader in the Confessing Church —Thomas Torrance, Reinhold Niebuhr, Stanley Hauerwas, Jürgen Moltmann, and novelists such as John Updike and Miklós Szentkuthy were greatly influenced by him.

Personal Details

Birthday: May 10, 1886 Died on: December 10, 1968 Nationality: Swiss Famous: Republicans, Intellectuals & Academics, Theologians Ideologies: Republicans Spouses: Nelly Hoffmann Childrens: Bonn, Göttingen, Markus Barth, Münster Information Detail Birthday May 10, 1886 Died on December 10, 1968 Nationality Swiss Famous Republicans, Intellectuals & Academics, Theologians Ideologies Republicans Spouses Nelly Hoffmann Childrens Bonn, Göttingen, Markus Barth, Münster Birth Place Basel, Switzerland Religion Protestant Gender Male Father Johann Friedrich Mother Anna Katharina (Sartorius) Barth Sun Sign Taurus Born in Basel, Switzerland Famous as Theologian Died at Age 82

Basel, Switzerland

Karl Barth born at Unsplash Birth Place

In 1913, Karl Barth married Nelly Hoffmann, a talented violinist. They had a daughter and four sons, one of whom was the New Testament scholar Markus Barth. Unsplash Personal Life

Charlotte von Kirschbaum, his pupil, was invited by Barth to move into the Barth household. This offended his wife and his children suffered the stress of the relationship. Unsplash Personal Life

He died on December 10, 1968, in Basel, at the age of 82. Unsplash Personal Life

Karl Barth was born on May 10, 1886, in Basel, Switzerland, to Johann Friedrich "Fritz" Barth, a theology professor and pastor who would greatly influence his son's life, and Anna Katharina (Sartorius) Barth. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

From 1904 to 1909, Barth studied theology in Bern, Berlin, Tübingen, and Marburg. He studied under Adolf von Harnack and Wilhelm Herrmann and was attracted to the works of Friedrich Schleiermacher. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

From 1911 to 1921, Barth was a parish minister. Soon after the start of WWI, Barth was shocked when many of his teachers signed their allegiance to the war plans of the German government. Unsplash Career

Liberal theology failed to stand up against culture and many of his teachers had forsaken the gospel. Disillusioned, he sought a completely new theological foundation by rereading and interpreting the scripture. Unsplash Career

Post WW I, he came to be associated with a movement known as Dialectical Theology in Protestantism which strongly emphasized the revelation of God by God as the source of Christian doctrine. Unsplash Career

His research on Paul’s Letter to the Romans yielded, ‘The Epistle to the Romans’, in 1922. In this book he argued that the God rejects any attempt to ally God with human cultures, achievements, or possessions. Unsplash Career

The Barmen declaration became the founding document of the Confessing Church. He was elected a member of its leadership council, the Bruderrat and opposed government-sponsored efforts to Nazify the German Protestant church. Unsplash Career

His book, ‘The Epistle to the Romans’, published in 1922, stressed the “the importance of revelation and salvation as acts of God, not humanity. Like the existentialist philosophy’ it emphasized the distinction between God and humanity. Unsplash Major Works

‘Church Dogmatics’, Barth’ thirteen-volume magnum opus was published in stages from 1932 to 1967. He presented the Christian doctrine as entirely Christo-centric and Jesus Christ as the unique and complete Word of God.. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	May 10, 1886
Died on	December 10, 1968
Nationality	Swiss
Famous	Republicans, Intellectuals & Academics, Theologians
Ideologies	Republicans
Spouses	Nelly Hoffmann
Childrens	Bonn, Göttingen, Markus Barth, Münster
Birth Place	Basel, Switzerland
Religion	Protestant
Gender	Male
Father	Johann Friedrich
Mother	Anna Katharina (Sartorius) Barth
Sun Sign	Taurus
Born in	Basel, Switzerland
Famous as	Theologian
Died at Age	82

Karl Barth

Swiss

May 10, 1886

Biography

Personal Details

Basel, Switzerland