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Karl Barth

Swiss Protestant theologian (1886-1968) · Switzerland · Academics · Died at 82

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A Swiss Reformed theologian whose radical break from liberal Christianity hit hard enough to land him on the cover of Time in 1962. His unfinished Church Dogmatics and his role drafting the Barmen Declaration made him the defining theological voice of the twentieth century.

WritersTV PersonalityNews BroadcastingLiteratureSwitzerlandEurope20th Century

A life in dates

1968Died10 December 1968“Faith is never identical with "piety" even if it were the purest and finest.”In their wordsAs quoted in The Beginnings of Dialectic Theology, Vol. 1 (1968) edited by James M. Robinson

Sigmund Freud PrizeAward1963“Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”In their words31 May 1963As quoted in "Barth in Retirement" in TIME magazine, vol. LXXXI, no. 22 (May 31, 1963)

Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of ParisAwardSonning PrizeAward1960“What expressions we used - in part taken over and in part newly invented!”In their wordsThe Humanity of God (1960), p. 42.

1959Honorary Doctorate from the University of StrasbourgAward1916“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”In their words"The Righteousness of God" (1916) in The Word of God and the Word of Man (1928) as translated by Douglas Horton; this passage begins with a

1886Born10 May 1886

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Karl Barth Bundesarchiv BildKarl Barth Bundesarchiv BildBarthstube01Barthstube01Barthstube02Barthstube02Bundesarchiv Bild 194-1282-30A, Wuppertal, Evangelische Gesellschaft, JahrestagungBundesarchiv Bild 194-1282-30A, Wuppertal, Evangelische Gesellschaft, JahrestagungBundesarchiv Bild 194-1283-23A, Wuppertal, Evangelische Gesellschaft, JahrestagungBundesarchiv Bild 194-1283-23A, Wuppertal, Evangelische Gesellschaft, JahrestagungDBP 1986 1282 Karl BarthDBP 1986 1282 Karl BarthGöttinger Gedenktafel, Barth, Karl, 1, Nikolausberger Weg 66, Oststadt, Göttingen, Landkreis GöttingenGöttinger Gedenktafel, Barth, Karl, 1, Nikolausberger Weg 66, Oststadt, Göttingen, Landkreis GöttingenKarl Bart, Der RömerbriefKarl Bart, Der Römerbrief

In their own words 10

,
Karl Barth
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. Faith is never identical with "piety" even if it were the purest and finest.

    1968, As quoted in The Beginnings of Dialectic Theology, Vol. 1 (1968) edited by James M. Robinson, Own words

  2. Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.

    May 31, 1963, As quoted in "Barth in Retirement" in TIME magazine, vol. LXXXI, no. 22 (May 31, 1963), Own words

  3. What expressions we used - in part taken over and in part newly invented!

    1960, The Humanity of God (1960), p. 42., Own words

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Awards

Sigmund Freud Prize1968
Sonning Prize1963
Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Paris1963
Honorary Doctorate from the University of Strasbourg1959
Honorary Doctorate of the University of Glasgow
Honorary Doctor of the University of St Andrews
Honorary doctorate from the University of Geneva
Honorary doctor of the University of Oxford
Honorary Doctor of the University of Edinburgh
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Honorary Doctor of the University of Utrecht
Honorary Doctor of the University of Münster
Honorary Doctor of the University of Chicago

Family

Karl Barth

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About this person

Karl Barth was born 10 May 1886 and trained in the liberal theology of Harnack and Schleiermacher. As a pastor in the rural Swiss town of Safenwil - where locals called him the "Red Pastor" - he grew disillusioned with the tradition he'd inherited. In 1919 he published the first edition of The Epistle to the Romans, resolving to read the New Testament differently. The 1921 second edition openly broke from liberal theology and brought him worldwide acclaim. He went on to author nearly all of the Barmen Declaration for the Confessing Church and began his multi-volume Church Dogmatics in 1932, a theological summa he would never finish before his death on 10 December 1968. His influence stretched from Bonhoeffer and Niebuhr to novelists like Flannery O'Connor and John Updike.

Country
Switzerland
Category
Academics
Type
Academic
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1886 to 1968 · aged 82

Academics from Switzerland 6

Johann Bernoulli62.0Alain Berset57.8Jacob Bernoulli63.8Jacques Dubochet56.4Daniel Bernoulli66.3Lev Shestov56.3

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