When Karl Barth visited America for the first and only time in 1962, he was asked how he would summarise the millions of words he had published. He thought for a moment, and replied, “Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.”
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In 1931 he began the first book of his massive Church Dogmatics. It grew year by year out of his class lectures; though incomplete, it eventually filled four volumes in 12 parts, printed with 500 to 700 pages each. Many pastors in the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s, desperate for an antidote to liberalism, eagerly awaited the publication of each book.
Though Barth made it possible for theologians again to take the Bible seriously, American evangelicals have been skeptical of Barth because he refused to consider the written Word “infallible” (he believed only Jesus was). Nonetheless, he remains the most important theologian of the twentieth century.
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Anita says
Sarah, More on Barth.
But you're right, the Dalai Lama is probably the best known religious thinker. He's very sane, shrewd and sensible too!
sarah elwell says
Gosh, I've never heard of him! Always good to learn a new name 🙂 I would have voted the Dalai Lama the most important theologian, for the way he has spread his message of kindness and peace so far through the world, and backed it up with actions under extraordinary circumstances. But that's just my opinion and I guess I can't be considered very well informed, since I didn't even know who Karl Barth was! 🙂