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Persona #142

Karl Barth

1886–1968
Swiss Reformed theologian; principal author of the Barmen Declaration (1934)

Nein! to natural theology — revelation is God's self-disclosure, against all human religious projection

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where personas disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid (32 attributes) is shown.

Attribute Karl Barth
Time · Extent Finite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Mediated
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Partial
Observer · Physicality Both
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Revelation
Observer · Theological Method Confessional
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each persona's writings reveal about their stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Karl Barth

Finite created time; eternity is God's pure presence that meets time in the event of revelation.

Space

Karl Barth

Created finite space.

Matter

Karl Barth

Created matter; the doctrine of creation in CD III.

Observer

Karl Barth

Plural creaturely observers. Active in response to grace. Personal-divine cosmic agency: the triune God of Jesus Christ.

Energy

Karl Barth

Standard substantival physics; God's sovereignty is metaphysical, not physical.

Information

Karl Barth

Personal soul conserved; resurrection of the body.

Internal Tensions

Where each persona's working synthesis strains against itself.

Karl Barth

Barth's long affair with Charlotte von Kirschbaum, his theological collaborator and household member, was an open secret that troubled friends including Bonhoeffer; the public posture of Reformed marital ethics did not match the private arrangement. Barth's post-war refusal to equally condemn Soviet totalitarianism (after his principled resistance to Nazism) was criticized by Brunner and others.