~ Updated and Revised: February 26th, 2019 ~
In the lore of Karl Barth, there are two nursery rhymes that Barth used his great wit to respond to questioners: Karl Barth's musing on the famous lullaby "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" based upon Jane Taylor's poem "The Star", and the second is on "Jesus Loves Me" by Anna Bartlett Warner.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
In For the Sake of the World: Karl Barth and the Future of Ecclesial Theology, John D. Godsey retells a famous encounter between Karl Barth and an astronomer:
After the service in a parish church where Barth had been preaching one Sunday, he was met at the door by a man who greeted him with these words: "Professor Barth, thank you for your sermon. I'm an astronomer, you know, and as far as I am concerned, the whole of Christianity can be summed up by saying, 'Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.'" Barth replied: "Well, I am just a humble theologian, and as far as I am concerned, the whole of astronomy can be summed up by saying, 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.'" [1]
Jesus Loves Me
In an iconic moment, Karl Barth said that the nursery lullaby "Jesus Loves Me" summarized his entire theological works. Many people have retold this story without a conclusive source, which have caused some people to believe this response was pseudo-Barth, but Roger Olsen confirmed on his patheos blog that Karl Barth really did cite "Jesus Loves Me" by Anna Barlett Warner as an epitome of his entire theology:
According to the best accounts of the incident I have heard (many have taken on weird additions), Karl Barth was at Rockefeller Chapel (really a Gothic cathedral!) on the campus of the University of Chicago during his lecture tour of the U.S. in 1962. After his lecture, during the Q & A time, a student asked Barth if he could summarize his whole life’s work in theology in a sentence. Barth allegedly said something like “Yes, I can. In the words of a song I learned at my mother’s knee: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” That is the simple, unadorned story. Many tellers have adorned it with additions of their own (in sermons, etc.). [2]
Twinkle, Twinkle, little star.
Sources:
1. John D. Godsey, For the Sake of the World: Karl Barth and the Future of Ecclesial Theology, ed. George Hunsinger, p. 211
2. Olson, Roger E. “Did Karl Barth Really Say ‘Jesus Loves Me, This I Know....?".” Patheos, Patheos, 24 Jan. 2013, https://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2013/01/did-karl-barth-really-say-jesus-loves-me-this-i-know/.
Related: Jesus Loves Me, Karl Barth, Nursery Songs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
December 23rd, 2017 - 13:42
There are far too many folks who cannot separate the concept of an early and a late Barth, nor appreciate the differences that came from the pulpit theologian and his prison ministry to his being renowned for his classic opus on God’s self-revelation to Humanity in Scripture and Jesus. He persevered in his striving to present a challenge to mere liberal Christianity who did away with Jesus as Lord and the abuses of so-called Fundamentalists who replaced Jesus with an idol of their own making.
Thank you for this site, and this particular article. Jesus is the Lord God, Christ and Son of the Father, united in glorious threeness mystery with Holy Spirit.
your fellow suffering-servant,
_ga-
February 28th, 2019 - 01:32
It was surely a mark of greatness and humility to summarise things in words even a child could understand – what an example to follow! But then so did our Lord. Alan
July 25th, 2021 - 06:51
Thank you for sharing the beautiful stories of what two nursery rhymes meant to Karl Barth & how they shaped his theology!