[Study] Research on Faith
post a comment | posted Jun 14
"Faith as Ultimate Concern" by Paul Tillich
Summary by Meghan Ramsay (QCC, 2004)
Source: SUNY Suffolk
According to Tillich, "faith is the state of being ultimately concerned." The Ultimate Concern is that which demands complete surrender of the person who faithfully accepts the Ultimate. Additionally, faith in and surrender to the Ultimate promises total completion regardless of what must be sacrificed in the name of faith. Tillich argues that faith is a task for the believer's complete being--for instance, it is an act of both the conscious and the unconscious. He refers to faith as a "total and centered act of the personal self, the act of unconditional, infinite and ultimate concern." Tillich then goes on to examine the sources for faith. He asserts that faith arises out of man's awareness that he is a part of the infinite yet he is not the owner of this infinity. Additionally, he points out that God cannot be an object of faith without also being the subject of man's faith. God, asserts Tillich, is present as the subject and object of ultimate faith while at the same time is transcendent beyond both subject and object. Tillich warns that there are finite things that claim infinity, such as the nation or state. However, unlike God, believers can approach such finite things with "ordinary knowledge." Since God is infinite and ultimate and faith in God is the ultimate concern, Tillich asserts that only symbolic language is sufficient to express faith and God.