A humane and humanising God. Karl Barth’s foundation for a Christian Praxis

Abstract

“Consciousness of God is self-consciousness of man, knowledge of God is self-knowledge of man. Through his God you know the man, and by the man his God.” These well-known words, penned by Ludwig Feuerbach back in 1841, exercised quite a remarkable influence, nearly a century later, on the Christian Swiss theologian Karl Barth. Barth was intrigued by Feuerbach’s works and the accusation, put forward by the German philosopher, that knowledge of God is effectively self-knowledge of man did not leave him indifferent. However, and this is the thesis which this paper seeks to argue, Barth’s understanding of the above citation was not unilateral. Along the years, Barth was able to give a new meaning to this phrase. If at the inception of his theological journey Barth found himself agreeing with Feuerbach both in words and meaning, he would gradually move on to new shores and see this phrase under a new light. The Karl Barth who originally agreed with Feuerbach that “theology has long since become anthropology” and shouted his ‘Nein’ towards a theology which found its starting point in anthropology, would eventually speak of the “humanity of God.”