Barth’s reaction to liberalism came to expression. He began to realize that liberalism had followed a blind alley, and that his own liberal message did not meet the needs of the congregation during a time of war. It came as a shock to him to learn that some of his esteemed teachers should endorse the German war aims, and he came to realize that a defective ethics must stem from an inadequate theology. Such experiences led Barth and his neighboring pastor, Eduard Thurneysen, to reread the Scriptures