We have before us the fiendishness of business competition and the world war, passion and wrongdoing, antagonism between classes and moral depravity within them, economic tyranny above and the slave spirit below.
Karl BarthRead
Faith is never identical with piety.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Faith and piety are distinct concepts; having faith does not necessarily equate to being pious.
Karl Barth's quote highlights the difference between faith and piety, suggesting that genuine faith can exist independently of ritualistic or religious observance. It emphasizes that faith is a personal, internal commitment that does not always align with outward displays of piety, which can sometimes be superficial or culturally driven.
Themes
FaithPietyReligionSpirituality
In practice
Example use cases
During a sermon about the importance of authentic belief versus rigid adherence to traditions.
More from Karl Barth
All quotes βWhen we speak of our virtues we are competitors, when we confess our sins we become brothers.
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Conscience is the perfect interpreter of life.
Karl BarthRead
That the zeal for God's honor is also a dangerous passion, that the Christian must bring with him the courage to swim against the tide instead of with it... accept a good deal of loneliness, will perhaps be nowhere so clear and palpable as in the church, where he would so much like things to be different. Yet he cannot and he will not refuse to take this risk and pay this price... he belongs where the reformation of the church is underway or will again be underway.
Karl BarthRead
In the Church of Jesus Christ there can and should be no non-theologians.
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Christian worship is the most momentous, most urgent, most glorious action that can take place in human life.
Karl BarthRead
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