What about us? How does our sin impact how we view the Scriptures? We will look at two recent tragic examples: Karl Barth and Paul Tillich.
Karl Barth was arguably the most important Christian theologian of the 20th century. He is regarded as being neo-orthodox, that is, sort of orthodox against the radical liberalism that had been seeping into the church, but not fully so. He was also one of the few European theologians who stood directly against Hitler (Tillich was another).
Barth in essence held that the Scriptures contained the word of God. For it to become the Word of God, the Holy Spirit had to quicken it to the reader. In addition, even though the Bible had errors and contained old outdated folkways, it was still the word of God (this is a slight over-simplification).
What’s the problem? His view creates loopholes, doesn’t it? If I don’t feel that the Holy Spirit has quickened a passage, or I think a particular section is an old folkway or outright in error, I can choose to ignore it. It gives me an out when dealing with any particular personal sin.
Why might Barth take such a position? Admittedly, I’m inferring here, but it is now known that Barth was in an ongoing adulterous relationship with his secretary for most of his adult life. It only ended when she had to be hospitalized as a result of dementia. She lived with Barth and his wife in the same household, and is buried with them in the family cemetery plot. His mother noted that it did little good to have a brilliant theological mind if one shipwrecked one’s own house. Barth is even on record of having written that the relationship felt so good it had to be from God and right. He also admitted that without his secretary’s expertise, his “Church Dogmatics” would never have been written.
There are numerous Scriptures that speak directly against that type of relationship, but to me, Barth’s theological position gave him an out. There is no outward indication that he ever repented. I suspect his ongoing sin impacted how he came to view the Scriptures.
In the next post, we will briefly look at Paul Tillich.
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