Book Review: Karl Barth: A Life in Conflict
By Christiane Tietz and Victoria Barnett, ( Oxford: Oxford Press, 2021)
The journey toward Paul Found in His Letters began with my curiosity about the main theme of the Protestant Reformation: namely Justification by Faith. Specifically, the usual frame is that it is our faith in Christ Jesus that makes us right (or justified) by God. One of the key verses is Romans 3:21-22: “But now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” As I note in the book my journey began with Douglas Campbell who wrote The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Re-reading of Justification in Paul. Afterwards I read parts of Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics. In particular I was reading his fourth volume in that series titled The Doctrine of Reconciliation. As a Calvinist Barth had a take on Justification somewhat different from the standard Lutheran view. What stood out for me with regard to Barth was his openness to the Jewish roots our Christian story. I found his openness to Jews more fully revealed in a recent biography “Karl Barth: A Life in Conflict” by Christiane Tietz.
In Chapter 6 of my book there is a quote of Barth at the beginning. “Barth was fond of quoting the response to the query of Frederick the Great for a proof of God's existence—Sire, the Jews.”
In a footnote I made reference to Barth’s work on what was titled The Barmen Theological Declaration (1937).It was a bold statement of defiance as Barth in others in a movement called The Confessing Church who refused to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler whose Nartional Socialist government had taken over all institutions including the Lutheran Church in the 1930s.
In her book Tietz quotes Barth who addressed a group of pastors in Switzerland. I didn’t know this when I wrote the book, but it echoes what I think Paul would have also declared: ““For what would we be, what are we [ Christians] without Israel? Whoever rejects and persecute, the Jews, is also rejecting and persecuting the one who died for the sins of the Jews, and then, and thereby also died for our sins. Whoever is on principle, an enemy of the Jews, reveals himself, even if by the way, he would be an angel of light, as a principled enemy of Jesus Christ. Antisemitism is a sin against the Holy Spirit. For antisemitism means the rejection of God's grace." [P. 285]
There is so much in this biography, but especially revealing is the complexity Barth faced with having two women in his life: his wife Nelly with whom he had five children, and Charlotte von Kirshbaum who became not just his secretary, but his lover. Somehow the three of them lived together for many years. The subtitle of the book reveals not just a man who had many theological opponents, but also the tensions of a most abnormal family.
What do I see in both Paul and Barth? I see courage. I see a continued commitment to never water down the word of God. And I see a real man with very complex emotions and relationships. And like all of us there are some things not to be admired or followed.