Barth

A Prayer of Jesus

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John 16:23-27 (NLT)
“At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. The truth is, you can go directly to the Father and ask him, and he will grant your request because you use my name. You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy. I have spoken of these matters in parables, but the time will come when this will not be necessary, and I will tell you plainly all about the Father. Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God.”

A Theme to Remember:
The possibilities of prayer reach to all things. Whatever concerns our highest welfare, and whatever has to do with God’s plans and purposes concerning His church on earth, is a subject for prayer. In “whatsoever ye shall ask,” is embraced all that concerns us. And whatever is left out of “whatsoever” is left out of prayer. Where will we draw the lines which leave out or which will limit the word “whatsoever”? Define it, and search out and publish the things which the word does not include. If “whatsoever” does not include all things, then add to it the word “anything.” “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)

Words to Remember:
Jesus does not give recipes that show the way to God as other teachers of religion do. He is himself the way.
¬–Karl Barth

A Prayer of Trust

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Psalm 25 (NLT)
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
I trust in you, my God!
Do not let me be disgraced, or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.
No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.
Show me the path where I should walk, O LORD; point out the right road for me to follow.
Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.
Remember, O LORD, your unfailing love and compassion, which you have shown from long ages past.
Forgive the rebellious sins of my youth; look instead through the eyes of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O LORD.
The LORD is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray.
He leads the humble in what is right, teaching them his way.
The LORD leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all those who keep his covenant and obey his decrees.
For the honor of your name, O LORD, forgive my many, many sins.
Who are those who fear the LORD?
He will show them the path they should choose.
They will live in prosperity, and their children will inherit the Promised Land.
Friendship with the LORD is reserved for those who fear him.
With them he shares the secrets of his covenant.
My eyes are always looking to the LORD for help, for he alone can rescue me from the traps of my enemies.
Turn to me and have mercy on me, for I am alone and in deep distress.
My problems go from bad to worse.
Oh, save me from them all!
Feel my pain and see my trouble.
Forgive all my sins.
See how many enemies I have, and how viciously they hate me!
Protect me! Rescue my life from them!
Do not let me be disgraced, for I trust in you.
May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you.
O God, ransom Israel from all its troubles.

A Theme to Remember:
Prayer is infinite ignorance trusting to the wisdom of God. Prayer is the voice of need crying out to Him who is inexhaustible in resources. Prayer is helplessness reposing with childlike confidence on the word of its Father in heaven. Prayer is but the verbal expression of the heart of perfect confidence in the infinite wisdom, the power and the riches of Almighty God, who has placed at our command in prayer everything we need. (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)

Words to Remember:
In God alone there is faithfulness and faith in the trust that we may hold to him, to his promise and to his guidance. To hold to God is to rely on the fact that God is there for me, and to live in this certainty.
–Karl Barth

Rise of Neo-orthodoxy

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Karl Barth (1886-1968), a Swiss theologian, was the founder of the neo-orthodox school of theology. He studied at various universities in Germany and became a liberal pastor for twelve years in Switzerland. After seeing first hand the inherent sinfulness of humanity during World War  I he began studying Scripture and theologians like Calvin and Kierkegaard. Eventually, he abandoned liberal theology. In his multi-volume Church Dogmatics, he detailed his beliefs, which included the idea that God is transcendent and that humanity is separated from God due to sin – a condition that can only be resolved when the Holy Spirit reconciles us to God through Christ.

Impact: Neo-orthodox theology was, in many ways, universalist but was much more Christ-centered than the liberalism that reigned among scholars during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Barth, Karl

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Karl Barth (1886-1968) was Swiss theologian. Barth was the founder of the neo-orthodox school of theology. He studied at various universities in Germany and became a liberal pastor for 12 years in Switzerland. After seeing first hand the inherent sinfulness of humanity during the First World War he began studying Scripture and theologians like Calvin and Kierkegaard. Eventually he abandoned liberal theology. In his multi-volume Church Dogmatics he detailed his beliefs, which included the ideas that God is transcendent, and that humanity is separated from God due to sin – a condition that can only be resolved when the Holy Spirit reconciles us to God through Christ.. His theology was, in many ways, universalist but was much more Christ-centered than the liberalism that reigned among scholars during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.