Karl Barth Article

Karl Barth summary

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/summary/Karl-Barth
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Karl Barth.

Karl Barth, (born May 10, 1886, Basel, Switz.—died Dec. 9/10, 1968, Basel), Swiss theologian. He studied at the Universities of Berlin, Tübingen, and Marburg, and in 1911–21 he was a pastor at Safenwil, Switz. The tragedy of World War I made him question the liberal theology of his teachers, rooted in post-Enlightenment ideas. With The Epistle to the Romans (1919) he inaugurated a radical turnaround in Protestant thought, initiating a trend toward neoorthodoxy. The work led to his appointment as professor at Göttingen (1921), Münster (1925), and Bonn (1930). He was a founder of the Confessing Church, which opposed the Nazi regime; when his refusal to take the oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler cost him his chair at Bonn, he returned to Basel. He spoke at the opening of the World Council of Churches in 1948 and visited Rome following the Second Vatican Council.