The Saviors of God (1923)
Context: God is imperiled. He is not almighty, that we may cross our hands, waiting for certain victory. He is not all-holy, that we may wait trustingly for him to pity and to save us.
Within the province of our ephemeral flesh all of God is imperiled. He cannot be saved unless we save him with our own struggles; nor can we be saved unless he is saved.
We are one. From the blind worm in the depths of the ocean to the endless arena of the Galaxy, only one person struggles and is imperiled: You. And within your small and earthen breast only one thing struggles and is imperiled: the Universe.
“The saving of anyone is something which is not in the power of man, but only of God. No one can be saved — in virtue of what he can do. Everyone can be saved — in virtue of what God can do.”
2:2 <!-- p. 625 -->
Church Dogmatics (1932–1968)
Context: The saving of anyone is something which is not in the power of man, but only of God. No one can be saved — in virtue of what he can do. Everyone can be saved — in virtue of what God can do. The divine claim takes the form that it puts both the obedient and the disobedient together and compels them to realise this, to recognise their common status in face of the commanding God.
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Karl Barth 73
Swiss Protestant theologian 1886–1968Related quotes
Reported in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 511.
“How can anyone see the only way the world can be saved and not be forced to weep?”
The Last Temptation of Christ (1951)
“Take what you can have. Rejoice in what you can save, and do not mourn your losses too long.”
Lews Therin Telamon
(15 October 1993)
Нет бессмертия души, так нет и добродетели, значит, всё позволено. … Без бога-то и без будущей жизни? Ведь это, стало быть, теперь всё позволено, всё можно делать?
The Brothers Karamazov (1879–1880)