The Call to Discipleship

In this brief essay, drawn from Church Dogmatics, Barth articulates what it means to follow Jesus in faith. He emphasizes that discipleship involves a detachment from the authority of possessions, foregoing the pursuit of personal glory, challenging the fear and use of force, the dissolution of self-evident personal attachments, and a "better righteousness," which goes beyond actions to intentions and practices piety in secret.

"The command of Jesus . . . is issued with all the freedom and sovereignty of grace against which there can be no legitimate objections, of which no one is worthy, for which there can be no preparation, which none can elect, and in the face of which there can be no qualification."

Karl Barth was Professor of Theology at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century. Among his many works are The Epistle to the Romans, Church Dogmatics, and Evangelical Theology: An Introduction.