Karl Barth was a 20th-century Swiss Reformed theologian who is considered one of the most significant thinkers in modern Protestantism. Initially influenced by liberal theology, his views underwent a radical shift during and after World War I. He broke with the prevailing theological trends of his time, which he believed had become too intertwined with human culture and philosophy. 

Barth’s work, most famously his Church Dogmatics and his commentary The Epistle to the Romans, centered on the "wholly otherness of God" and the idea that God can only be known through divine revelation in Jesus Christ. He was a vocal opponent of the Nazi regime and was a key figure in the Confessing Church, which resisted the "German Christians" movement. 

 
 
None of us is a great Christian; rather, we are all very small Christians.  

But your grace is sufficient for us.  

Awaken us to the small joy and thankfulness that we are capable of,  

the timid faith that we bring,  

the incomplete obedience that we cannot refuse – to the hope in the greatness,  

wholeness, and completeness that you have prepared for us in the death of our Lord,  

Jesus Christ and that you have promised to us in his resurrection from the dead. 

Amen