"God is a cheerful word": the life of Karl Barth

The day after Karl Barth’s death, Eberhard Jüngel presented a lecture in tribute to Barth at the Universität Zürich. Jüngel was (and still is) the most brilliant of all Barth’s students, and he had spent a great deal of time not only in Barth’s seminars, but also in personal discussions with him. In his warm and moving tribute, Jüngel concluded by saying of Barth:

“His entire life and thought as a whole announced that ‘God’ is a cheerful word. With nothing more than this announcement, Karl Barth edified the community of Jesus Christ and helped to shape a century.” (Eberhard Jüngel, Karl Barth, a Theological Legacy, p. 21)