Synopsis: "These sermons were prepared from 1920 to 1924. Professor Barth preached some of them while he was minister of the Reformed congregation in Safenwil, Canton Aargau, Switzerland; others in the Reformed Church in Goettingen while he was professor of theology in the University. Pastor Thurneysen at that time preached to the congregation in Bruggen, near St. Gall, Switzerland. The sermons were written not for special occasions but for the regular Sunday morning service, and were addressed to such men and women as one will find in any village or city church--to men and women in the...

From a thoroughly biblical viewpoint Eduard Thurneysen probes deeply into the nature and practice of pastoral care. His rich understanding of men, his experience in counseling, and his grasp of theological thought infuse his approach with vitality and truth. As he considers the basis of pastoral care, Thurneysen puts forward the thesis that the purpose of counseling is to communicate the Word of God to individuals. Pastoral care is a ministry along with those of sermon and sacrament; its aim is to lead the counselee back to sermon and sacrament in the worship of the church. Although he does...

""Dostoevsky's thinking has two poles: life as it is, the world as it goes its way, is one, and the beyond, 'resurrection, ' eternity, is the other. Here is man, there is God."" This is the central emphasis of Eduard Thurneysen as he considers the great Russian novelist not primarily as a psychologist, metaphysician, or social philospher, but as a theologian of the highest order. Drawing liberally from characters and incidents in Dostoevsky's books, Dr. Thurneysen shows how the apparent triviality of the lives of the men and women in the novels is latent with the secret of a wholly other...

The Sermon on the Mount is often considered a model for the moral and religious conduct of man. Such an interpretation defrauds the Sermon of its real meaning, according to Eduard Thurneysen, and results in a futile legalistic attempt to fulfill the Sermon's commands. Dr. Thurneysen insists that the Sermon on the Mount must be understood in terms of gospel and nothing but gospel. It is to be read with eyes directed only to Jesus and not to the problems of life as such. Then the problems will be set in true perspective, too. He further asserts that the Sermon is gospel in the form of law. Each...