Apr 28, 2011

The Karl Barth Timeline

It seems as though every time I want to know the year in which one of the volumes of the Church Dogmatics was published in German (or in English), I have to spend 15 minutes hunting through Google search results.  Since I can't find such a thing anywhere else, I present this chart for your use -- expanded to cover not only the Dogmatics but several other major works, as well. I've also included some other important dates in Barth's life and career for context, to make it a full-on timeline.

TITLEGERMANENGLISH
Barth's birth (Basel, Switzerland)1886
Barth enters parish ministry in Safenwil1911
Barth marries Nellie Hoffman1913
Barth's break with Protestant liberalism1914-16
Romans (I)1919
Barth leaves the parish for Göttingen1921
Romans (II)19221933
Instruction in the Christian Religion
(The Göttingen Dogmatics)
19241991 (Vol. I)
Barth leaves Göttingen for Münster1925
The Word of God and the Word of Man19241928
Christian Dogmatics: Vol. I (Münster)1927N/A
Commentary on Philippians19281962
Barth leaves Münster for Bonn1930
Anselm: Fides Quaerens Intellectum19311960
Church Dogmatics I/119321936
Theological Existence Today19331933
The Barmen Declaration1934
Nein! (Pamphlet war with Emil Brunner)19341946
Barth leaves Bonn for Basel1935
Church Dogmatics I/219381956
Church Dogmatics II/119401957
Church Dogmatics II/219421957
Church Dogmatics III/119451958
Protestant Theology In the 19th Century19471959
Dogmatics in Outline19471949
Church Dogmatics III/219481960
Church Dogmatics III/319501960
Church Dogmatics III/419511961
Church Dogmatics IV/119531956
Church Dogmatics IV/219551958
The Humanity of God19561960
Church Dogmatics IV/3.119591961
Church Dogmatics IV/3.219591961
Barth retires from teaching1962
Barth's trip to America
(lectures in Chicago, Princeton)
1962
Evangelical Theology19621963
Church Dogmatics IV/4 (Fragments)19671969
Barth's death (Basel, Switzerland)1968
N/A = Not yet in English

Titles are given in English, of course, even where the volume hasn't been translated yet. The 1924 dogmatics from Barth's lectures in Göttingen were published as Unterricht in der christlichen Religion, and the 1927 Münster dogmatics -- which Barth famously regarded as a false start (see the Preface to CD I/1) was published as Christliche Dogmatik.

I don't have a firm German publication date on hand for the Göttingen dogmatics, but they are commonly dated by when the lectures were delivered -- summer semester 1924.

Also note that Barth's Dogmatics originated as course lectures, and were in development and presented to students in the years leading up to the publication.

Any corrections or important additions are most welcome.

4 comments:

  1. Nice! I'm bookmarking this. But one note as I walk through it -- the 2002 Philipperbrief in English is the 40th anniversary republication of Knox's 1962 English edition.

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  2. All fixed -- thanks, Matt. And thanks to Travis and Ben for filling in several dates I had missing. Hopefully this is pretty complete now.

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  3. Thanks! This is really helpful and is also definitely going in my bookmarks. One thing: I/1 had a second edition published in 1975.

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  4. Thanks! I've often wanted to know the German publication dates for volumes of the CD . . . but, unlike you, didn't want to know enough to search. So, thanks again.
    Joe Small

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