The life and work of Swiss theologian Karl Barth is remembered in a new traveling exhibition and a series of events which began in December. The theme of the year-long commemoration is “Gott Trift Mensch” or “God Meets Man.”

“Karl Barth is the greatest theologian of the 20th century, and his work is very relevant even in today’s world,” said Achim Detmers, general secretary of the Reformed Alliance.

The 50th anniversary of Barth’s death— December 10 2018—marked the start of events in Basel, Switzerland, with the presentation of the Karl Barth Prize by the UEK (Union Evangelischer Kirchen) and an exhibition in the University of Basel library.

Also to be remembered is the appearance of Barth’s signiicant The Epistle to the Romans in 1919, which began his international career. In the course of this career, Barth became a resistance ighter against National Socialism and a signiicant theologian.

The Reformed Alliance is responsible for the year of commemorations in co-operation with the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), UEK and the Schweizerischer Evangelischer Kirchenbund (SEK). By mid-2019 there will be a variety of events including a traveling exhibition hosted at Barth sites in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

“What we want to highlight through the exhibition and various events celebrating the work and life of Karl Barth is his dialectical theology. He is a theologian to be remembered, and people should get an idea of his work,” said Johannes Voigtländer, who has been responsible for the preparation, planning and implementation of the theme year. The Reformed Alliance has previously built theme years for Calvin (2009) and the Heidelberg Catechism (2013). Barth is celebrated as the main author of the Barmen Declaration. In May 1934 the irst ‘Confessing Synod of the Reich’ met in Wuppertal, Germany, and made history with its Theological Declaration of Barmen.

Reformed, Lutheran and United Churches agreed for the irst time on a common testimony as the foundation of the Confessing Church. It was written to help Christians withstand the challenges of the Nazi Party and of the so-called ‘German Christians’, a popular movement that saw no conlict between Christianity and the ideals of Hitler’s National Socialism. (WCRC)

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