As I was preparing for this semester’s Karl Barth seminar I came across this poignant story. One morning after his sermon Barth was greeted at the door by a man who said, “Professor Barth, thank you for your sermon. I’m an astronomer, you know, and as far as I am concerned, the whole of Christianity can be summed up by saying, ‘Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.’”
Barth replied, “Well, I am just a humble theologian, and as far as I am concerned the whole of astronomy can be summed up by saying, ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.’”
Source: John D. Godsey, “Reminiscences of Karl Barth,” in Princeton Seminary Bulletin (2002): 321.
Mike Wittmer 
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