Karl Barth

In this first German-language biography, Christiane Tietz writes a fascinating account of how Karl Barth lived in dissent – against the theological mainstream, against National Socialism and, privately, under one roof with his wife and lover, in dissent against himself. Swiss theologian Karl Barth (1886–1968) opposed all attempts to find something divine in culture or one’s own feelings. It was precisely this mindset that allowed him to take on the most earthly commitment: He was considered a “red pastor,” was responsible for the “The Barmen Declaration of Faith,” the founding document of the Confessing Church, and protested against the rearmament of the Federal Republic of Germany. Christiane Tietz persuasively interrogates the interactions between Barth’s personal and political biography and his theology. Numerous newly available documents illuminate less wellknown sides of Barth, such as his longstanding “emergency community of three,” which he led with his wife and his co-worker Charlotte von Kirschbaum. This engaging book provides an opportunity to rediscover one of the most idiosyncratic thinkers of the last century.