The Word in this World: Two Sermons by Karl Barth

by Karl Barth, Kurt I. Johanson (Editor), Christopher Asprey (Translator)

Overview

"An important feature of this booklet is the inclusion of two contrasting sermons by Barth--the 'monster of a full scale Titanic sermon' of 1912, and the sermon of Christ's walking on the lake of 1934. In different ways these dealt with disasters, the unfortunate disaster of 1912, and the far more serious disaster of rising Hitlerism in 1934. How did it come about that the approaches were so very different? A simple answer lies in Barth's threefold development of the doctrine of God's word. . . . The 1912 sermon fails by all these standards. The 1934 sermon passes, and proves to be a more powerful response to the current situation." --Geoffrey W. Bromiley, translator of Church Dogmatics and author of An Introduction to the Theology of Karl Barth "Karl Barth's two sermons dramatically reflect his preaching in two distinct phases. In each, he is seeking a word to proclaim to the congregation; but in dramatically different ways. . . . These sermons, with Bishop Willimon's fine introduction, clearly show the preacher Barth was and the preacher Barth became, while also directly challenging the contemporary church always to listen to God's Word, to trust, and to obey." --Donald K. McKim, Editor, How Karl Barth Changed My Mind "The mighty Karl Barth still speaks in our postmodern world. . . . His preaching once was one of the great voices in the context of the rise of Hitler's rise to power in Germany. His voice is still audible, along with those of Martin Niemuller, Helmut Thielicke, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. These great preachers are examples of Germany's biblically grounded Reformation preaching." --James D. Strauss, Professor Emeritus of Theology and Philosophy, Lincoln Christian Seminary, Lincoln, Illinois "The sermon from Bremen reminds me how I as a boy experienced the last sermons of my grandfather in the Basel prison: line by line he brought the biblical text anew to speech (to life in speech). Listen: whoever wants to preach in this way must at the same time stand just as awake and engaged in current events as this comes to expression in the Titanic sermon. In this way the two sermons make a suspenseful pair (maybe even a dialectic pair)." --Dieter Zellweger, President of the Karl Barth Legacy Commission and Karl Barth's grandson

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781725239876
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	01/30/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	66
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Kurt I. Johanson is Pastor at Pleasant Grove Church in Dallas, Texas, and formerly adjunct lecturer in Homiletics at Dallas Christian College.
Karl Barth (1886-1968), the Swiss Reformed professor and pastor, was once described by Pope Pius XII as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas. As principal author of 'The Barmen Declaration', he was the intellectual leader of the German Confessing Church - the Protestant group that resisted the Third Reich. Barth's teaching career spanned nearly five decades. Removed from his post at Bonn by the Nazis in late 1934, Barth moved to Basel where he taught until 1962. Among Barth's many books, sermons, and essays are The Epistle to the Romans, Humanity of God, Evangelical Theology, and Church Dogmatics.

Evangelical Theology, American Lectures, 1962
Now available exclusively as a digitized audiobook from Apple iTunes.


Kurt I. Johanson is Pastor at Pleasant Grove Church in Dallas, Texas, and adjunct lecturer in Homiletics at Dallas Christian College.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“An important feature of this booklet is the inclusion of two contrasting sermons by Barth—the ‘monster of a full scale Titanic sermon’ of 1912, and the sermon of Christ’s walking on the lake of 1934. In different ways these dealt with disasters, the unfortunate disaster of 1912, and the far more serious disaster of rising Hitlerism in 1934. How did it come about that the approaches were so very different? A simple answer lies in Barth’s threefold development of the doctrine of God’s word. . . . The 1912 sermon fails by all these standards. The 1934 sermon passes, and proves to be a more powerful response to the current situation.”


—Geoffrey W. Bromiley, translator of Church Dogmatics and author of An Introduction to the Theology of Karl Barth


“Karl Barth’s two sermons dramatically reflect his preaching in two distinct phases. In each, he is seeking a word to proclaim to the congregation; but in dramatically different ways. . . . These sermons, with Bishop Willimon’s fine introduction, clearly show the preacher Barth was and the preacher Barth became, while also directly challenging the contemporary church always to listen to God’s Word, to trust, and to obey.”


—Donald K. McKim, Editor, How Karl Barth Changed My Mind


“The mighty Karl Barth still speaks in our postmodern world. . . . His preaching once was one of the great voices in the context of the rise of Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. His voice is still audible, along with those of Martin Niemuller, Helmut Thielicke, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. These great preachers are examples of Germany’s biblically grounded Reformation preaching.”


—James D. Strauss, Professor Emeritus of Theology and Philosophy, Lincoln Christian Seminary, Lincoln, Illinois


“The sermon from Bremen reminds me how I as a boy experienced the last sermons of my grandfather in the Basel prison: line by line he brought the biblical text anew to speech (to life in speech). Listen: whoever wants to preach in this way must at the same time stand just as awake and engaged in current events as this comes to expression in the Titanic sermon. In this way the two sermons make a suspenseful pair (maybe even a dialectic pair).”


—Dieter Zellweger, President of the Karl Barth Legacy Commission and Karl Barth’s grandson

Editorial Reviews

An important feature of this booklet is the inclusion of two contrasting sermons by Barth—the ‘monster of a full scale Titanic sermon’ of 1912, and the sermon of Christ’s walking on the lake of 1934. In different ways these dealt with disasters, the unfortunate disaster of 1912, and the far more serious disaster of rising Hitlerism in 1934. How did it come about that the approaches were so very different? A simple answer lies in Barth’s threefold development of the doctrine of God’s word. . . . The 1912 sermon fails by all these standards. The 1934 sermon passes, and proves to be a more powerful response to the current situation.”


—Geoffrey W. Bromiley, translator of Church Dogmatics and author of An Introduction to the Theology of Karl Barth


“Karl Barth’s two sermons dramatically reflect his preaching in two distinct phases. In each, he is seeking a word to proclaim to the congregation; but in dramatically different ways. . . . These sermons, with Bishop Willimon’s fine introduction, clearly show the preacher Barth was and the preacher Barth became, while also directly challenging the contemporary church always to listen to God’s Word, to trust, and to obey.”


—Donald K. McKim, Editor, How Karl Barth Changed My Mind


“The mighty Karl Barth still speaks in our postmodern world. . . . His preaching once was one of the great voices in the context of the rise of Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. His voice is still audible, along with those of Martin Niemuller, Helmut Thielicke, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. These great preachers are examples of Germany’s biblically grounded Reformation preaching.”


—James D. Strauss, Professor Emeritus of Theology and Philosophy, Lincoln Christian Seminary, Lincoln, Illinois


“The sermon from Bremen reminds me how I as a boy experienced the last sermons of my grandfather in the Basel prison: line by line he brought the biblical text anew to speech (to life in speech). Listen: whoever wants to preach in this way must at the same time stand just as awake and engaged in current events as this comes to expression in the Titanic sermon. In this way the two sermons make a suspenseful pair (maybe even a dialectic pair).”


—Dieter Zellweger, President of the Karl Barth Legacy Commission and Karl Barth’s grandson

From the Publisher