This was my first encounter with Karl Barth. I am not disappointed! Barth keeps in close step with Bonhoeffer's "Cost of Discipleship" in this little gift. Christ calls men to himself and bids them to Obey everything he ask. There is a lot of talk about obedience and surrender in Barth's thoughts. The life of obedience is the life of discipleship. A quick little rid, but a deep bruise is left in its wake. This is a good primer to Cost of Discipleship! ( )

Karl Barth is a principal theologian of the twentieth century. His "Church Dogmatics" is the foundational statement of his theology. "The Call to Discipleship" is a small part of Barth’s "Church Dogmatics (vol. 4, pt. 2)". Jesus Christ was God on earth. He came to bring the kingdom of God to earth. Man sinned. Jesus came to show man the way of God. While here Jesus taught man the way to live. Discipleship is the agreement of man to live like Jesus. When man says yes to discipleship, he gives his word and immediately lives like Jesus. If man is to become a disciple, he must commit his all to Jesus. When man asks Jesus, he already knows the answer. The answer can only be yes. Yes means he must follow Jesus and show others how Jesus lived.
Discipleship is a total commitment to Jesus. It is not a way to live. It is the only way to live. It is not seen as loving some of your neighbors. It is loving all of your neighbors. It is not being a Christian. Man cannot be a Christian. Jesus Christ is the only Christian who has ever lived on the earth and he is the only Christian who will ever live on earth. Man cannot be a Christian but he can work toward being a Christian. The man who becomes a disciple is approaching being a Christian. A rich man cannot be a disciple. A wise man cannot be a disciple. A king or a ruler of people cannot be a Christian. Anyone who thinks he can be a disciple cannot. Anyone who truly wants to be a disciple must give away all of his earthly possessions. Then man can ask the question of Jesus. What must I do to be a disciple. Jesus replies just as the man knows he will. If you give away all of your possessions and follow me, you will be my disciple. When man replies yes Lord, he becomes a disciple. In seventy five pages, Karl Barth has stated the requirements for being a disciple of Jesus Christ. He fully covers all that being a disciple entails. He states at the beginning that he has relied on the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer as written in his "Discipleship". He peppers his treatise with quotations from the Bible and specifically from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. When he completes his call to discipleship, you either know what is required of man to become a disciple, or you know nothing about becoming a disciple.