Provided by Wikipedia Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary ''The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declaration, and especially his unfinished multi-volume theological summa the ''Church Dogmatics'' (published between 1932–1967). Barth's influence expanded well beyond the academic realm to mainstream culture, leading him to be featured on the cover of ''Time'' on 20 April 1962.
Like many Protestant theologians of his generation, Barth was educated in a liberal theology influenced by Adolf von Harnack, Friedrich Schleiermacher and others. His pastoral career began in the rural Swiss town of Safenwil, where he was known as the "Red Pastor from Safenwil". There he became increasingly disillusioned with the liberal Christianity in which he had been trained. This led him to write the first edition of his ''The Epistle to the Romans'' (a.k.a. Romans I), published in 1919, in which he resolved to read the New Testament differently.
Barth began to gain substantial worldwide acclaim with the publication in 1921 of the second edition of his commentary, ''The Epistle to the Romans'', in which he openly broke from liberal theology.
