Looping in Dynamics of Faith,

Looping

In Dynamics of Faith, theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich assumes the personal challenge of not only defining faith, but defining it in a brief 125 pages (less, if you consider the book's size is smaller than normal). Because he has faith, surely Tillich knew he could accomplish this. For those who do not know if they have faith or are sure they do not, being able to meet this challenge is questionable. The book r

In this book, Tillich jumps in on the first page by defining faith as "the state of being ultimately concerned: the dynamics of faith are the dynamics of man's ultimate concern." That is, if the object of faith "claims ultimately it demands the total surrender of him who accepts this claim, and it promises total fulfillment even if all others have claim to be subjected to it or rejected in its name" (1). This unconditional concern can be for any religion, or of a religious/non-religious form. For instance, the ultimate concern for success and social standing demands unconditional surrender to its laws; in the Jewish faith, the God of the universe is ultimate concern of every pious Jew.

Faith is a centering act of the total personality, conscious and unconscious. "It happens in the center of the personal life and includes all its elements" (4). Therefore to Tillich, faith must be that which is integral to the individual's life.

From where does this faith come? What is the "ultimate concern?" According to Tillich, faith is not simply the will to believe, but rather a cognitive affirmation of the transcendent nature of ultimate reality. This is achieved, not simply by a process of intellectual inquiry, but by an act of acceptance and surrender (6). Religious faith brings an awareness of the sacred. It is certain, because it is an experience of the sacred; uncertain, because it brings finite beings into relation with an infinite reality. The element of uncertainty cannot be avoided, and must be accepted (16).Thus, Tillich argues, every act of faith consist of doubt (20). This is important because it gives an "in spite of" character to faith. This makes faith an act of courage. People continue to have faith although they do not have total surety -- they have skepticism -- as to whether or not their faith is misplaced. If civil or religious authority instills conformity among community members of faith, or if a law excludes the possibility for doubt, then faith will lose its uncertainty (26).

Tillich then analyzes faith from the opposite pole: What Faith is Not. That is, faith is not a belief that something has a certain degree of probability nor a type of theoretical knowledge that is based on probability. This misunderstanding of faith as a type of knowledge supported by religious authority has led over the centuries to many historical conflicts (33). Further, faith is not an act of knowledge related to uncertainty, nor a belief based on incomplete evidence. Since it is not an act of knowledge, it need not be supplemented by an act of will. Thus, the will to believe does not create faith (38).

Lastly, emotion is not the source of faith (40), which is a false distortion that has arisen for Schleiermacher's notion of a feeling of absolute dependence.

A human's ultimate concern has to be expressed symbolically, because symbolic language alone is able to express the ultimate, adds Tillich (41). The fundamental symbol of ultimate concern is God, but God is not the only symbol of faith. Myths are symbols of faith that tell stories to portray situations of ultimate concern. Unbroken myths are accepted as literal statements of reality and broken myths are interpreted as myths, as symbolic statements of reality (50). Primitive mythological consciousness is convinced of the literal truth of myth, because it believes that the broken myth is deprived of its truth and power. However, this insistence on the literal truth of myth actually may restrict ultimate reality to the level of the finite and conditional (58).

Tillich next moves to faith and reason. Reason is a precondition for faith and faith is an act in which reason ecstatically transcends itself. Ecstasy does not deny rationality, but fulfills it (76). Reason fulfills itself when it brings an awareness of the presence of ultimate reality. Tillich discusses the relationship between faith and science, history, and philosophy and if the ultimate concern is really ultimate it is not bothered by these. Faith is true insofar as it adequately expresses a concern with ultimate reality (96).

Finally, the way to deal with this situation is through courage. "Doubt is overcome not by repression but by courage." Fanaticism, on the contrary, is evidence of such repression. "Living faith includes the doubt about itself, the courage to take this doubt into itself, and the risk of courage" (101) Yet regarding the concrete elements of faith, there is always doubt and risk, such as idolatry for example. However, Tillich encourages not to fear such doubt, risk and even the possibility of failure: "The risk of failure, of error and of idolatrous distortion can be taken, because the failure cannot separate us from what is our ultimate concern" (122).

Faith exists throughout history, which does not prove its possibility nor its necessity. The question, Tillich states, is whether this faith is based on insight or misunderstanding. "Faith is an essential possibility of man, and therefore its existence is necessary and universal. It is possible and necessary also in our period" (126). Finally, faith stands upon itself and justifies itself against attack. They can attack it only if in the name of another faith. "It is the triumph of the dynamics of faith that any denial of faith is itself an expression of faith, of an ultimate concern."

The purpose of writing a book such as this is essentially to have those individuals who have not given thought to the concept of faith an easier way to understand a difficult concept and to those who are skeptical on this theme to perhaps become more enlightened and supportive, because they better recognize its importance. Those who already have faith do not need to be told what it is.

This paper started out saying that Tillich took on the challenge of covering a very complex subject in a meaningful way. Considering his genius stature, this could not have been all that easy. He did everything he could to make it digestible to the masses (that is, masses of people, not Church masses -- or, perhaps both). He kept the words at a comprehensible level, he wrote short paragraphs and chapters, he slowly went from one chapter to the next and built on his argument. Most important, he did not make it sound like Faith for Dummies, but offered enough depth to make one seriously think about his concepts.

Tillich's underlying foundation is faith equates to "the state of being ultimately concerned." The ultimate concern is that which determines being or not-being. Only those statements are theological that deal with their object in so far as it can become a matter of being or not-being. Faith is universal in that there is no one without it. In so far as man is a centered being, he has faith.

This is not to say, as Tillich emphasizes, that all faith is the same, which is an important point to make in this increasingly heterogenic world. All humans have faith as ultimate, passionate concern, but all humans are not concerned about the ultimate.

Here, then, in this short but weighty book is the genius of Tillich -- genius defined by someone who can write in layman's terms something that can barely be explained by most theologians. Since writing this book in the 1950s, it has become a true classic, because it is a clear view of the way that people order their lives and their needs. Rather than dwelling on religion or belief -- which are not the same as faith -- Tillich challenges his readers, as he did himself, to ask what has the most centering importance in their lives? What is integral to their day-to-day existence that has the ultimate concern?

In these days of increased commercialism and conspicuous consumption when people are turning away from the church because it does not have the answers and turning toward "reality" shows to see if others do, the Dynamics of Faith's questions mean all the more to the lay person. Where does your true devotion lie? What gives you the ability to go on each day and be "centered"? Is it family, friends, work, prestige, stature, money?

Today's faith is often the concern with success, social standing and economic power. Such new concepts of god have been growing along with the expansion of capitalism in the highly competitive and fast-paced technologic Western nations. In this form of faith, people sacrifice the important values, human relations, and personal integrity for what technology can offer. In such cases, the primary concern is not the result of one's present actions on the future or, if believed, next life. The concern is immediate gratification and the result of one's actions right here, right now.

Another way that Tillich helps readers view their changing world is by making the distinction between science and faith. Increasingly, it is also becoming more difficult to separate the two. As Tillich states: "The distinction between the truth of faith and the truth of science leads to a warning, directed to theologians, not to use recent scientific discoveries to confirm the truth of faith. Microphysics has undercut some scientific hypotheses concerning the calculability of the universe." Rather trying to choose sides in a struggle between religion and science, where it is difficult to determine one right and one wrong contender, Tillich goes above and beyond the fray by using the terminology "truth of faith," rather than "truth of religion."