Kritzinger, J.N.J. (Johannes Nicolaas Jacobus), 1950-2009-11-112009-11-1120072007Kritzinger, JNJ 2007. '"The Christian in society": Reading Barth's Tambach lecture (1919) in its German context', HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies, vol. 63, no. 4, pp. 1663-1690. [http://www.hts.org.za/index.php/HTS/issue/archive]0259-9422 (print)2072-8050 (online)http://hdl.handle.net/2263/11786This article analyses Karl Barth’s 1919 Tambach lecture on “The Christian in society” in the context of post World War I Europe. After describing Barth’s early life and his move away from liberal theology, the five sections of the Tambach lecture are analysed. Barth’s early dialectical theology focussed on: Neither secularising Christ nor clericalising society; Entering God’s movement in society; Saying Yes to the world as creation (regnum naturae); Saying No to evil in society (regnum gratiae); respecting God’s reign as beyond our attempts (regnum gloriae).enFaculty of Theology, University of PretoriaTambach lectureBarth, Karl, 1886-1968Christian sociologySecularization (Theology)ClericalismDialectical theologyArticle