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God Here and Now

Ruminations on the Tenets of Christian Belief

Karl Barth

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Religion & Spirituality

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God Here and Now
The Nature of God and Theology+
The Enlightenment Challenge+
Critiques of Modern Theology+
The Power of Revelation+
The Three Forms of Revelation+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 6
How does Karl Barth describe the relationship and nature of God compared to humanity?
  • A. God is an innate spiritual presence that resides within the consciousness of all humans.
  • B. God is 'the wholly other,' existing across a vast chasm from humanity and standing outside everything.
  • C. God is a metaphysical entity that can be fully understood through intense scriptural study.
  • D. God is an empirical reality that can be measured and understood using human reason.
Question 2 of 6
According to the text, why did Immanuel Kant argue that God cannot be an object of empirical knowledge?
  • A. Because human senses are too corrupted by sin to perceive divine truth.
  • B. Because scripture lacks the historical evidence required for empirical verification.
  • C. Because God does not conform to human cognitive concepts like space and time.
  • D. Because theology is essentially an arbitrary opinion, much like a belief in Bigfoot.
Question 3 of 6
Why did Barth ultimately reject Friedrich Schleiermacher's idea of a 'religious feeling' or spiritual sixth sense?
  • A. It focused too much on the actual reality of God rather than how humans interpret scripture.
  • B. It mistakenly argued that God could be understood through rational morality and physics.
  • C. It resulted in describing the human experience of God rather than the reality of God Himself.
  • D. It completely ignored the role of the Enlightenment in shaping modern theological thought.
Question 4 of 6
According to Barth, how is it possible for flawed humans to know an inherently unknowable God?
  • A. Humans can develop their innate 'God-consciousness' through silent meditation.
  • B. Theologians can bridge the gap through rigorous, expert interpretation of original scriptures.
  • C. Humans can use reason to deduce God's moral laws, thereby making Him known.
  • D. God suspends the impossibility of knowing Him by choosing to reveal Himself to humanity.
Question 5 of 6
What are the three ordered sources of revelation identified by Barth?
  • A. Jesus the man, scripture, and preaching.
  • B. Scripture, human reason, and personal experience.
  • C. The Enlightenment, the Church, and the Holy Spirit.
  • D. Nature, the human conscience, and scriptural orthodoxy.
Question 6 of 6
How does Barth respond to the post-Enlightenment idea that Christianity is just a historical 'husk' containing a universal, rational 'kernel' of truth?
  • A. He embraces it, arguing that modern science has successfully translated ancient biblical truths.
  • B. He rejects it, insisting that the essence of Christianity is fundamentally bound to its concrete history.
  • C. He modifies it, stating that only the New Testament contains the universal kernel of truth.
  • D. He ignores it, believing that historical debates distract from the personal, emotional experience of the divine.

God Here and Now — Full Chapter Overview

God Here and Now Summary & Overview

God Here and Now (1964) is a collection of addresses and essays that explore fundamental tenets of Christianity from a Protestant theologian’s point of view. Covering the gospel, faith, grace, the Bible, the Church, ethics, and humanism, it poses questions on what it means to meet God in today’s world.

Who Should Listen to God Here and Now?

  • People curious about the perspective of a modern Protestant thinker
  • Christians who want to better understand and implement scripture
  • Anyone grappling with questions regarding faith, ethics, or humanism

About the Author: Karl Barth

Swiss theologian Karl Barth (1886-1968) was one of the most important religious thinkers of the twentieth century. His landmark works include The Epistle to the Romans and his unfinished four-volume Church Dogmatics. He’s also known for coauthoring “The Barmen Declaration” as part of the German Confessing Church – the Protestant group that opposed the Third Reich. Barth’s writings have been translated into multiple languages, and he was featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1962.

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