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Karl Barth
said
Faith is never identical with "piety" even if it were the purest and finest.
— As quoted in The Beginnings of Dialectic Theology, Vol. 1 (1968) edited by James M. Robinson
Karl Barth
Swiss Protestant theologian (1886-1968)
- Fame59.3
- Momentum0.0
- Switzerland rank#94
Source-basedStable
- Fame59.3
- Momentum0.0
- Switzerland rank#94
- Actors rank#111
- Wikipedia19.2K
Lived 1886–1968, aged 82Switzerland
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Summary
Updated 2026-06-09
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.
Biography
About
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…
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Sourced, dated quotes from Karl Barth
Karl Barth
said
Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.
— As quoted in "Barth in Retirement" in TIME magazine, vol. LXXXI, no. 22 (May 31, 1963)
Karl Barth
said
What expressions we used – in part taken over and in part newly invented!
— The Humanity of God (1960), p. 42.
Karl Barth
said
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.
— "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
Karl Barth
saidundated
For the millions that suffer unjustly, the Confessing Church does not yet have a heart.
— On the lack of passionate resistence to Nazi policies of persecution of Jews, even in the Confessing Church he helped found in opposition
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- Sigmund Freud Prize
- Sonning Prize
- doctor honoris causa from the University of Paris
- honorary doctorate from the University of Strasbourg
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Fame
Stable59.3
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
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Historical24.7
Source confidence60.0
Completeness70.0
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- WikipediaHigh confidencewikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
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