Emberek vagyunk, nem pedig Isten. Niebuhr és Barth az Egyházak Világtanácsa bölcsőjénél
We are Men and Not God: Niebuhr and Barth at the Cradle of the World Council of Churches

Summary/Abstract: This article explores the similarities and differences between Karl Barth’s ‘continental attitude’ as opposed to Reinhold Niebuhr’s ‘Anglo-Saxon approach’ to the challenges facing Christians after the Second World War. It appears that as they went to the WCC’s First Assembly in Amsterdam in 1948, both theologians had a fairly clear view concerning the duty of Christians in the world which was in a great need of rebuilding. As it appears from Niebuhr’s article ‘We are men and not God’ – a paraphrase of Barth’s ‘crisis theology gone to seed’ – the approach of the Swiss theologian was far too eschatological (being based on the absolute truths of Christian theology) in order to be relevant for the contemporary Christian and secular society. The lesson of Niebuhr’s ‘Anglo-Saxon’ or even ‘semi-Pelagian’ emphasis is that the significance of a more active and responsible Christian partaking in everyday life’s affairs is undeniably important and desirable both for the Christian Church and for the secular society.

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