Karl Barth: from fighter against the ‘Roman heresy’ to leading thinker for the ecumenical movement

2004 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 434-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Welker
Keyword(s):  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Karl Barth ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Ecumenical Movement ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Second World ◽  
Ecumenical Theology

Karl Barth saw himself as a ‘Randfigur’, a boundary figure, in ecumenical theology, while important members of the ecumenical movement regarded him as a ‘Wegbereiter de Okumene des 20. Jahrhunderts’, a pioneer of the ecumene in the twentieth century. Which characterisation is correct?The article sheds light on Karl Barth as an ‘ecumenical theologian’ in eight different phases of his life: his wrestling with Roman Catholicism in Göttingen and Munster, particularly with the help of the Munich Jesuit Erich Przywara; his encounter and interaction with ecumenical leaders such as Visser't Hooft and Pierre Maury at the beginning of the Nazi dictatorship and his disappointment about the failing resistance of the ecumenical institutions against Hitler; his search for a clear ecumenical course during the Second World War and the Cold War thereafter; his contribution to the meeting of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam in 1948 and in the preparation of this meeting; his complex and complicated dealing with the ‘fundamental ecumenical question’ of church and Israel; the reception of his theology in Roman Catholicism in the 1950s and 1960s through von Balthasar, Kung and other young theologians and Barth's interaction with them; Barth's engagement with Vatican II and his trip to Rome; finally, his personal ‘ecumenical existence’ in the last years of his life.The contribution explores continuities and discontinuities in his stance towards ‘ecumenical theology’ – ecumenical theology in its various meanings. It depicts Barth in his journey from a fighter against the ‘Roman heresy’ to a critical pioneer of ecumenical theology in general and the institutionalised ecumene in particular.

Pivotal Years: 1948–1965

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorelei Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Ecumenical Movement ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

The chapter considers key ecumenical developments in the period 1948–65, between the founding of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the closing of the Second Vatican Council, at which the Catholic Church finally embraced the ecumenical movement. Explaining how that period can be seen as pivotal in the history of the movement, it tracks the developing understanding of the ecumenical challenge reflected in successive assemblies of the WCC and conferences on Faith and Order, both at world level and in North America, and the growing desire for Catholic engagement in the ecumenical movement manifested particularly in the activities of the Catholic Conference for Ecumenical Questions. It then considers the teaching of Vatican II on ecumenism, for example, regarding degrees of communion, and the impact of Catholic participation on the ecumenical movement, notably in the practice of bilateral dialogues.

scholarly journals ’The Struggle for Spiritual Values’: Scottish Baptists and the Second World War

Perichoresis ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 73-94
Author(s):  
Brian Talbot
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Spiritual Values ◽  
World War ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
World War One ◽  
World Council ◽  
Christian Commitment ◽  
Post War ◽  
Second World

Abstract The Secord World War was a conflict which many British people feared might happen, but they strongly supported the efforts of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to seek a peaceful resolution of tensions with Germany over disputes in Continental Europe. Baptists in Scotland shared these concerns of their fellow citizens, but equally supported the declaration of war in 1939 after the German invasion of Poland. They saw the conflict as a struggle for spiritual values and were as concerned about winning the peace that followed as well as the war. During the years 1939 to 1945 they recommitted themselves to sharing the Christian message with their fellow citizens and engaged in varied forms of evangelism and extended times of prayer for the nation. The success of their Armed Forces Chaplains in World War One ensured that Scottish Baptist padres had greater opportunities for service a generation later. Scottish Baptists had seen closer ties established with other churches in their country under the auspices of the Scottish Churches Council. This co-operation in the context of planning for helping refugees and engaging in reconstruction at the conclusion of the war led to proposals for a World Council of Churches. Scottish Baptists were more cautious about this extension of ecumenical relationships. In line with other Scottish Churches they recognised a weakening of Christian commitment in the wider nation, but were committed to the challenge of proclaiming their faith at this time. They had both high hopes and expectations for the post-war years in Scotland.

The School of International Encounter

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jurjen A. Zeilstra
Keyword(s):  
Karl Barth ◽  
Youth Work ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Ecumenical Movement ◽  
World Council ◽  
General Secretary

Chapter 2 discusses Visser ‘t Hooft’s work over the next decade and a half. It looks at his work as the YMCA international secretary for youth work and later for the WSCF and traces his development as a thinker and as an increasingly influential voice in the ecumenical movement, against the background of the theology of Karl Barth, and questions of mission and ecumenicity, and of the rising threat of totalitarian movements and the challenges this posed for youth work. The chapter shows how his developments in this period made him the logical choice, given his vision and character, for the position of general secretary of the planned World Council of Churches.

Rome

2021 ◽  
pp. 179-234
Author(s):  
Thomas Albert Howard
Keyword(s):  
Interreligious Dialogue ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Marxist Ideology ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
First Time ◽  
Second World ◽  
The Church

This chapter takes a look at the Second World War's aftermath and its profound and enduring implications for interreligious dialogue. It recounts the establishment of The World Council of Churches in 1948 to help rebuild society and promote Christian ecumenism, later turning to interreligious dialogue. The chapter also examines how the war accelerated processes of decolonization, beginning with India's independence in 1947 and soon spreading to other countries in South Asia and Africa. It then discusses the global spread of Marxist ideology and the specter of civilizational annihilation wrought by the Cold War. Ultimately, the chapter reveals that, for the first time in conciliar history, the church exhorted its members to enter into “dialogue and collaboration” with members of other religious traditions. It investigates how the conciliar documents and papal encyclicals appearing during the council affected the church and the wider world in the postconciliar (and postcolonial) era.

Tradition

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald O’Collins, SJ
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Joint Declaration ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Roman Catholics

This book opens by establishing the substantial convergence in reflection on Christian tradition proposed by a 1963 report of the Faith and Order Commission (of the World Council of Churches) and the teaching of Vatican II (1962–5). Despite this ecumenical consensus, in recent years few theologians have written about tradition, and none has looked to the social sciences for insights into the nature and functions of tradition. Drawing above all on sociologists, this work shows the difference that tradition makes in human and religious life. In the light of the divine self-revelation that climaxed with Jesus Christ, the central characteristics of tradition are set out: in particular, its relationship to and distinction from culture. The risen Christ himself is the central Tradition (upper case) at the heart of Christian life. All the baptized faithful, and not merely their ordained leaders, play a role in transmitting tradition. The ‘sense of the faithful’ amounts to a ‘sense of the tradition’. The essential, if invisible, agent of tradition remains always the Holy Spirit. Scripture and tradition function in mutual dependence, as shown by the emergence of the creeds, the image of Christ as the New Adam, and the doctrine of justification (on which a 1999 joint declaration shows substantial agreement now reached by Lutherans, Roman Catholics, and others). The full context of Christian life and history focuses the relationship between Scripture and tradition. The book deals with the challenge of discerning and reforming particular traditions. A closing appendix shows how modern studies of memory—above all, collective memory—can illuminate ways in which tradition works to maintain Christian identity and continuity.

scholarly journals Taming the Expellee Threat in Post–1945 Europe: Lessons from the Two Germanies and Finland

2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
PERTTI AHONEN
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Second World War ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
World War ◽  
Forced Migrants ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Second World

This article analyses the process through which the dangers posed by millions of forced migrants were defused in continental Europe after the Second World War. Drawing on three countries – West Germany, East Germany and Finland – it argues that broad, transnational factors – the cold war, economic growth and accompanying social changes – were crucial in the process. But it also contends that bloc-level and national decisions, particularly those concerning the level of autonomous organisational activity and the degree and type of political and administrative inclusion allowed for the refugees, affected the integration process in significant ways and helped to produce divergent national outcomes.

Democracy and Dictatorship in the Cold War: the Two Germanies, 1949–1961

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew I. Port
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Upheaval ◽  
German States ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Conditions ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Second World

The ‘long 1950s’ was a decade of conspicuous contrasts: a time of dismantling and reconstruction, economic and political, as well as cultural and moral; a time of Americanization and Sovietization; a time of upheaval amid a desperate search for stability. But above all, it was a time for both forgetting and coming to terms with the recent past. This article focuses on the two forms of government that controlled Germany, democracy, and dictatorship. The Cold War was without doubt the main reason for the rapid rehabilitation and integration of the two German states, which more or less took place within a decade following the end of the Second World War. This article further elaborates upon the political conditions under dictatorship and its effect on the social life. East Germany, under the Soviet control underwent as much political upheaval. It was not until the second half of the twentieth century that Germany became a democracy.

scholarly journals ‘De ridder is gestorven’

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (94) ◽  
pp. 25-50
Author(s):  
Dirk van Keulen
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Heart Attack ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Karl Barth ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
World War ◽  
Daily Newspapers ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
The University ◽  
Second World

Abstract Arnold Albert van Ruler (1908-1970) was one of the leading theologians in the Dutch Reformed Church in the second half of the twentieth century. After having worked as a minister in Kubaard (1933-1940) and Hilversum (1940-1947) he was professor at the University of Utrecht (1947-1970). Van Ruler had a special place in the Dutch theological landscape. The development of his views took the opposite direction of the mainstream of Dutch protestant theology, which can be illustrated with his reception of the theology of Karl Barth. Before the Second World War Van Ruler was a Barthian theologian; after the War he distanced himself from Barth. As a result of this, some of Van Ruler’s theological views were controversial. Van Ruler himself felt somewhat lonely and complained that he was neglected by his colleagues. On the morning of December 15, 1970, Van Ruler had his third heart attack and dead sitting at his writing desk. In this contribution the reactions on Van Ruler’s death are documented. In many daily newspapers his death is mentioned and in several the significance of his work is described. During the months after his death in many ecclesiastical weekly’s and in theological journals in Memoriams were published. We find personal memories and praise for his style of theologising, which was experienced as sparkling and bright. Van Ruler’s colleagues recognised his originality. His views on theocracy, however, remained as controversial as they were during his lifetime.

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