tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34634488.post1727836131798699844..comments2023-10-21T11:00:55.183-04:00Comments on A purpose more obscure: Paul Tillich - The Dynamics of FaithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34634488.post-56731861860366324202010-09-06T17:15:01.087-04:002010-09-06T17:15:01.087-04:00In my previous comment, I mentioned my earlier blo...In my previous comment, I mentioned my earlier blog - "The Theology of Berkouwer". This blog has been closed down. Here's a link for some of my thoughts on Tillich and Barth - <a href="http://standrewsbellsmyre.blogspot.com/search/label/tillich" rel="nofollow">Tillich</a>.Charlie Cameronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10944805005089148186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34634488.post-20953908973872343692006-12-27T20:17:00.000-05:002006-12-27T20:17:00.000-05:00You may be interested to know that I have just pos...You may be interested to know that I have just posted a couple of articles on Tillich at my blog - www.theologyofgcberkouwer.blogspot.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34634488.post-10936186432852000472006-11-30T13:18:00.000-05:002006-11-30T13:18:00.000-05:00Well, (in true Tillich fashion) I wouldn't tell ei...Well, (in true Tillich fashion) I wouldn't tell either of you that you're wrong. I've been thinking some of the same thoughts actually. <br /><br />This is my first time reading Tillich, and I do enjoy him, but I've also noticed like Jon said "I find Tillich interesting on the surface of things but dangerously non-committal on the deep things."<br /><br />But I haven't completely formed my opinion of him yet. <br /><br />I'm going to post tomorrow on his chapter on Faith and Doubt--and I'll bring up some doubts I have about his ideas of faith. <br /><br />Thank you for your comments.Mr. Sherwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18051249327558416739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34634488.post-75993239730486437272006-11-30T12:33:00.000-05:002006-11-30T12:33:00.000-05:00As an admitted skeptic of both fundamentalism and ...As an admitted skeptic of both fundamentalism and theological liberalism, I find Tillich interesting on the surface of things but dangerously non-committal on the deep things. That is, to quote Kierkegaard, "Poetry is idolatry refined." Tillich is a poet, an arranger of words for their musical and self-referential value. (And before I go further, let it be known I too often fall into that sinful category.) <br /><br />Did Tillich actually believe in a God of history? I don't want to go as far as Francis Schaeffer (who unfairly dissed my man Kierkegaard for one thing). But with Tillich, I'm left empty because I don't believe him to be, at root, a believer in the God/Man Jesus. Not Jesus the poetic, or Jesus the iconic, but Jesus in a real historical framework witnessed accurately to by the New Testament.<br /><br />If there is not such a Jesus, all Tillich's poetry is a massive waste of time. Or so this fallible soul sees it. If Jesus was not a God/Man as revealed in the NT, if he did not literally rise from the dead, then I'm with Nietzsche (the only poet left once God and morals die their simultaneous death).<br /><br />Sigh... I do realize that your reflections on Tillich do in fact reflect "real" truth (unlike other facets of his theology and his life). But I am left unable to recieve from the strange a-historical framework he seems to work from.<br /><br />Tell me I'm wrong. Because that is not an unusual state for me. (grin)<br /><br />Jon TrottJon Trotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05269111052515857956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34634488.post-52937825522644652942006-11-30T12:19:00.000-05:002006-11-30T12:19:00.000-05:00Well, I guess I'm too Barthian to appreciate this....Well, I guess I'm too Barthian to appreciate this. I keep thinking of the Biblical approach to holiness. The whole divine/demonic dichotomy and synthesis is lost to me. I agree with Karl Barth that Tillich is the last great nineteenth century theologian. I guess William James and Rudolph Otto express holiness equally well. It leaves me with the thought "Why speak of God at all?" <br />You should know, however, that my experience with Pentecostal worship and preaching leave me with the same thought.<br /><br />It is true that America has popularized a kind of holiness that elevates morality and sin to where they have their own cultural hegemony. That effect also heightens and satiates a reactionary cultural impulse (like the porn industry). <br /><br />Faith's power or disfunction lies in its' engagement with that culture. ("Keeping oneself unstained from the world and remembering Widows and Orphans in their affliction" is a definite biblical example of true religious engagement) <br /><br />But the danger always lies in believing that cultural engagement leaves us unchanged.chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16190307304407180671noreply@blogger.com