For my Barthian Friends

If you know me, you know I'm kind of skeptical about a lot of Barth's theology. Nonetheless, I am going to share a theology-nerd joke (which I heard for the first time a couple of days ago, but which was referred to as a joke that every theology student here has heard [side note: it was Hans Spiegel over at Tagebuch eines Pfarrers in a podcast from a while back]) which really turns on Barth's monumental Kirchliche Dogmatik.

Here we go: So, eventually the Kingdom of God is ushered in, and everyone is absolutely thrilled. There's a minor problem though: all the theologians who have ever lived have confused people so much, and done so many foolish things, that they have to take a short test before they can be allowed in. The Holy Spirit is examining them, and St. Peter brings them into a room one by one. The line is progressing quite nicely, and apparently the examination is quite easy, since it is only taking about five minutes per theologian. Near the front of the line, Karl Barth, Paul Tillich, and Rudolf Bultmann are standing together. St. Peter beckons Barth inside, and everyone is waiting. 5 minutes turn into 10. Then a half an hour. An hour. Finally, after three hours,  St. Peter comes back out, and Tillich jumps up and asks "Did Barth fail? Did Barth fail? Did he finally fail at something?" St. Peter replies, "Well, Barth didn't fail..."