10 Things I like about Karl Barth
1. He was a pioneer. He was trained in theological liberalism, but left that camp when it failed him and created a whole new way of doing theology.
2. He was, at the same time, humble. He realized that his theology was only for the time and place in which it was written. He knew that there would always be new questions, and theologians would always have to start over from the beginning.
3. He fought the Nazi's. Almost everyone in Germany went along with the German church in endorsing Hitler, but Barth wouldn't and got fired for it. (Bonhoeffer one-upped Barth by dieing as a resister, but Barth was still pretty cool).
4. He kept writing until he died, and still didn't finish his work.
5. He was, arguably, the first post-modern theologian.
6. Despite saying so much (his major opus, Church Dogmatics, stacks about four feet high), he also knew when to keep his mouth shut. He was able to say "I don't know" when he didn't.
7. He was cool with other people. Despite being very much a reformed, protestant, Christian theologian, he had a whole lot of appreciation/dialouge with people outside of those traditions.
8. He learned as he went. Barth had a lot to learn when he was first hired as a professor, and often had to go straight from the library to his lectures. His students loved learning with him as much as from him.
9. He reached out. Despite being very much in demand as a theologian, he made time to preach to prisoners, because he knew that God cared for prisoners.
10. His quote: "We should preach with the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other."
2. He was, at the same time, humble. He realized that his theology was only for the time and place in which it was written. He knew that there would always be new questions, and theologians would always have to start over from the beginning.
3. He fought the Nazi's. Almost everyone in Germany went along with the German church in endorsing Hitler, but Barth wouldn't and got fired for it. (Bonhoeffer one-upped Barth by dieing as a resister, but Barth was still pretty cool).
4. He kept writing until he died, and still didn't finish his work.
5. He was, arguably, the first post-modern theologian.
6. Despite saying so much (his major opus, Church Dogmatics, stacks about four feet high), he also knew when to keep his mouth shut. He was able to say "I don't know" when he didn't.
7. He was cool with other people. Despite being very much a reformed, protestant, Christian theologian, he had a whole lot of appreciation/dialouge with people outside of those traditions.
8. He learned as he went. Barth had a lot to learn when he was first hired as a professor, and often had to go straight from the library to his lectures. His students loved learning with him as much as from him.
9. He reached out. Despite being very much in demand as a theologian, he made time to preach to prisoners, because he knew that God cared for prisoners.
10. His quote: "We should preach with the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other."