Dynamics of Faith - Paul Tillich Flashcards
faith is the state of being ultimately concerned.
ultimate concern is yourself. and your own happiness. when youre concerned about whether youll go to heaven or gell ultimately it maens your ultimate concern is yourself. ultimate concern is not fixed, it can change.
3 aspects of ultimate concern
- promises you total fulfillment
- demands total surrender
- threatens utter destruction
faith as ultimate concern is an act of the total personality.
it happens in the center of the personal life and includes all of its elements. faith is the most centered act of the human mind. faith is a matter of freedom. freedom is nothing mroe than the possibility of centered personal acts. freedom and faith are identical. faith is not a creation of the will. emotion does not produce faith. faith has a cognitive content and is an act of the will. it is the unity of every element in the centered self.
faith is a total centered act of the personal self, the act of unconditional, infinte and ultimate concern.
there is no faith without a content toward which it is directed. tehre is always something meant in the act of faith.
in acts of ultimacey (faith) you are not separated from god. it is transcendent.
subject object relationship- come together as one. it is god taht comes together as one.
what did holy originally mean
entirely other.
what is apart from the ordinary realm of rthings and experiences. it is separated from the world of finite relations. it was divine and cant be known. cant deduct an experiment and figure it out. it isnt all about moral perfection
what are the 3 types of doubt
- methodological
- skeptical
- existential
which doubt is tied to faith? why?
existential.
it accepts the insecurity and ultimate concern and takes it into itself in an act of courage
what role does language play in religious communities
acts of faith in a religious community are not possible without language. language makes acts of faith possible. language is the basis of faith
how does faith become static as it relates to doubt and human interpretation
when your ability to doubt and come up with your own interpretation is taken away. you cant interpet it for yourself, so your faith becomes static.
what are the 6 characteristcs of symbols
- they point beyond themselves to something eles. (it indicates some action or type of meaning. like signs, a stop sign.)
- it participates in that to which it points. (its like waht is behind an object and not the object itself. like the american flag)
- it opens up levels of reality which otherwise are close for us. (it expresses thing that are not seen or hidden and makes you see a deaper meaning behind symbols)
- it opens up dimensions and elements of reality which otherwise would remain unapproachable but also unlocks dimensions and elements of our soul which correspond to the dimensions and elements of reality. (there are things about yourself that you dont know. and sumbols can help you discover those things about yourself. something about your soul corresponds to reality as a whole)
- they cannot be produced intentionally. (something has to happen to give meaning to symbols)
- a consequence of the face that symbols cannot be invented. (they grow and they die)
what is the fundamental symbol of one’s ultimate concern? why?
god.
god is the symbol for ultimate concern.
what does literalism do to god?
literalism deprives god of his ultimacy and religiously speaking of his majesty. it draws him down to the level of that which is not ultimate, the finite and conditional. he becomes finite and measurable. god then literally exists. leaves no room for interpretation. if god is existing symbolically, then god retains his ultimacy and infiniteness.
