Karl Barth Quotes

“Barth was outraged by Graham’s preaching style: That was not the Good News, that was pistol-shooting. An urgent appeal was made to the people: You must, you should!…It was a proclamation of the Law…He wanted to scare people. To threaten always makes an impression. People would always much rather be frightened than be made joyful.”
― Christiane Tietz, Karl Barth: A Life in Conflict

“Barth once brought his admiration for Mozart to the point: “it may be that when the angels go about their task of praising God, they play only Bach” but he was “sure, however, that when they are together en famille they play Mozart and that then too our dear Lord listens with great pleasure.”
― Christiane Tietz, Karl Barth: A Life in Conflict

“In his thank-you speech Barth protested against being called the “greatest theologian” of the twentieth century. It might well be the case that “perhaps there is a little man or woman who has been holding Bible studies somewhere very quietly…who has been in reality the greatest theologian of this century.”
― Christiane Tietz, Karl Barth: A Life in Conflict