Martin Buber

The writings of the Jewish religious thinker, Martin Buber (1878-1965), have had a significant influence on a number of Christian theologians. Buber learned Hasidism, the religion of his boyhood that stressed piety and the hallowing of everyday life by affirming every person in his or her wholeness. This concern to develop true humanity under God through personal relations is expressed in the Hasidic teaching that "God is to be seen in everything, and reached by every pure deed." Buber's ideaof true life as relation was expressed in his famous book "I and Thou," in which he asserted that we can only become a personal "I" when we treat others, nature, and God as a "Thou" rather than an impersonal "It." Buber's work became widely known in Christian circles and was adopted by Christian theologians Karl Barth, Emil Brunner, Rudolf Bultmann, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Friedrich Gogarten among others. In this overview, Stephen Panko (1930-2012) provides a penetrating insight into the many facets of Buber and his work. - from back of book.