in Uncategorized

Barth, Kung, and Us

I can't but remember that shortly before his death, Karl Barth told me that Hans Kung (whom he began to mistrust) had paid him a visit and said to him triumphantly: “We will witness a new Reformation in the Church.” And Barth answered “A reform would suffice”.
~ Hans Urs Von Balthasar, “On the Withdrawal of Hans Küng's Authorization to Teach”
Contemporary Protestants would do well to learn from Barth's words since we so often end up behaving like Kung. Let us reform our traditions, not continue to fracture further. The solution to the Church's problems is not found in reinventing the Church (or abandoning the Church altogether). For some reason each successive generation seems to want to do this, yet each generation fails to do this. The true solution to the Church's problems is found by moving deeper into the Church. When this becomes our approach then perhaps we will succeed where other generations have failed.

Write a Comment

Comment