Friday, March 04, 2011

Paul Tillich

'ectasy of being grasped unconditionally' (1948, p81)
Faith is not technological realism, where in order to discover the really real, it is objectified into something that can be measured and expressed in human reason
NOR
is faith mystical realism, where in order to discover the really real, one has to escape the 'now' seeking 'the inner power of things beyond, essence and intuition
BUT
rather faith is historical realism, where the really real is asked for in time and space.
And when the unconditional reveals and transforms the conditional, a state of ectasy or faith occurs as it is grasped by the unconditional, as it is contemporeous to the 'here and now'.
True ectasy is united with faith, and faith transcends what seems to be real, because it is in the presence of the really, the ultimately, real (p80).
The man today who feels separated by a gulf from the theistic believer, often knows more about the 'ultimate' than the self-assured Christian who thinks that through his faith he has God in his possession, at least intellectually (p82).

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