Barmen and Belhar in conversation – a German perspective

Authors

  • W Krötke

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17570/ngtt.2006.v47n1.a25

Keywords:

Confession of Belhar, Barmen Theological Declaration, Theological Commission of the Union of Evangelical Churches

Abstract

This article is a discussion of the relationship between the Barmen Theological Declaration and the Confession of Belhar. It is done from the vantage point of the 2001 statement by the Theological Commission of the Union of Evangelical Churches in Germany on the Confession of Belhar from the perspective of the Barmen Theological Declaration. In the first part of the article comments are made on points highlighted in the statement that pertain to the similarities and differences between the two documents, regarding their formal structures, their use of Scripture, and their rejections of objectionable theologies and ideologies. In the second half of the article the comparison is continued, but from the vantage point of each of the five theses of the Confession of Belhar. In this way issues are identified which in future need to be clarified in dialogue on the meaning and importance these documents for the church today.

Downloads

Published

2006-06-30

License

Copyright of all NGTT material belongs to the Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust (PDWN Trust). The PDWN Trust is a trust fund established in 1932 with the aim of promoting quality theological research and publications.

The PDWN Trust pledges to maintain a legitimate scholarly record of the author's work and to defend the author's article against plagiarism and copyright infringement.

The PDWN Trust is committed to full Open Source publishing. This means that all articles published in NGTT will gradually be made freely available online. Authors maintain the right to:

  • Share and self-archive their work.
  • Make printed copies of their article for educational use.
  • Present their article at a meeting or conference and distribute printed copies of the article
  • Adapt and expand their published journal article to make it suitable for their thesis or dissertation.
  • Republish the article (ensuring that the original article is cited as published in NGTT).

For any questions or queries in this regard, please contact the Editor.