Karl Barth

Nationality

Switzerland

Date of Birth

1886

Date of Death

1968

Political
Preference

Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Born in Basel, Switzerland, Barth was a Reformed pastor in the canton of Aargau and taught theology in Göttingen, Münster and Bonn. Crucially, Barth was responsible for writing the Theological Declaration of Barmen in 1934, a declaration by German Protestants opposing the German Christians movement which sought to unify all Protestant churches into a pro-Nazi Protestant Reich Church. The main thesis of the Barmen Declaration was that Nazi ideology contradicted the Christian gospel because it undermined the allegiance to Jesus Christ by calling for the unquestionable loyalty to a human leader, Adolf Hitler. The ecumenical declaration became the founding document of the so-called Confessional Church, of which Barth was a member. Barth’s involvement in the Barmen Declaration and his refusal to sign the Oath of Loyalty to Adolf Hitler led to his deportation from Germany in 1935.

Barth was a member of the Life and Work Movement, an ecumenical movement established after World War I that concentrated on the practical activities of Protestant Churches worldwide. Together with the Faith and Order Movement, the Life and Work Movement agreed to create an ecumenical council in 1937, which would become the World Council of Churches (WCC) after World War II. As an ecumenical leader, Barth supported German penitence for the crimes committed during World War II, as well as reconciliation with churches in other nations. He co-authored the Darmstadt Statement with Hans Iwand in 1947, a statement on German guilt and responsibility for the Third Reich that expanded on the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt drafted by Martin Niemöller and Hans Asmussen of October 1945. Barth believed that the Protestant Church’s willingness to oppose socialism had made it susceptible to Nazi ideology and opposed German rearmament after World War II.

When the Cold War intensified, however, Barth became more critical of the World Council, which in his eyes was not vocal enough in its support for Christian churches behind the Iron Curtain. For this reason, Barth was also skeptical of initiatives of a more political nature within the WCC, like the activities of the CCIA as a liaison office with the United Nations.