Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century. Karl Barth (1886 - 1968) rejected the liberal theology of his time which, he argued, used the Bible and religion to help humans understand themselves rather than prepare them to open themselves to divine revelation. Barth's aim was to put God and especially Christ at the centre of Christianity. He was alarmed by what he saw as the dangers in a natural theology where God might be found in a rainbow or an opera by Wagner; for if you were open to finding God in German culture, you could also be open to accepting Hitler as God’s gift as many Germans did. Barth openly refused to accept Hitler's role in the Church in the 1930s on these theological grounds as well as moral, for which he was forced to leave Germany for his native Switzerland.
With
Stephen Plant Dean and Runcie Fellow at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge
Christiane Tietz Professor for Systematic Theology at the University of Zurich
And
Tom Greggs Marischal Professor of Divinity at the University of Aberdeen
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Reading list:
Karl Barth, God Here and Now (Routledge, 2003)
Karl Barth (trans. G. T. Thomson), Dogmatics in Outline (SCM Press, 1966)
Eberhard Busch (trans. John Bowden), Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts (Grand Rapids, 1994)
George Hunsinger, How to Read Karl Barth: The Shape of His Theology (Oxford University Press, 1993)
Joseph L. Mangina, Karl Barth: Theologian of Christian Witness (Routledge, 2004)
Paul T. Nimmo, Karl Barth: A Guide for the Perplexed (Bloomsbury, 2013)
Christiane Tietz, Karl Barth: A Life in Conflict (Oxford University Press, 2021)
John Webster, Karl Barth: Outstanding Christian Thinkers (Continuum, 2004)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | This is in our time from BBC Radio 4, |
| 0:07.5 | and this is one of more than a thousand episodes you can find on BBC Sounds and on our website. |
| 0:13.0 | If you scroll down the page for this edition, |
| 0:15.0 | you can find a reading list to go with it. |
| 0:17.0 | I hope you enjoy the program. |
| 0:19.0 | Hello, Carl Bart, 1886 to 1968, was one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century, |
| 0:27.0 | some say for the past few hundred years, putting God and especially Christ at the center of Christianity. |
| 0:34.0 | He rejected the mainstream liberal theology of his time which he held |
| 0:38.0 | used God as a means to understand humanity |
| 0:41.0 | and he saw danger in natural theology where you might feel you're experiencing God in a rainbow or an opera by Wagner. |
| 0:48.0 | For he thought if you find God in German culture it was a small step to accepting Hitler as God's gift too, as many Germans did, but Bart's did, but Bart's steadfastly did, for which |
| 0:58.8 | he was banned from public life. |
| 1:01.2 | We're to discuss the ideas of Carl Bardar Stephen Plant, Dean and Rundsefeller at Trinity |
| 1:06.2 | Hall University of Cambridge. |
| 1:08.6 | Christiana Teats, Professor for Systemic Theology at the University of Julik, and Tom Gregs, Marshall Professor of Divinity at the |
| 1:15.6 | University of Aberdeen. Coming to you first, Tom Gregs. Bart was born in Switzerland. |
| 1:21.1 | What role did religion play in his childhood? |
| 1:25.0 | Bart and his family were members of the Swiss Reform Church, a particular type of |
| 1:29.0 | Protestant church, but particularly important is the cultural identity of that church in relation to the city in which he was born and where he would later be a professor. |
| 1:40.0 | Basel. Basel had a very particular feel, a very particular identity as a city. |
| 1:46.4 | Bart was very proud of coming from Basel. |
... |
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