#ultimate concern

[involuntaryataraxia]

Theology, when dealing with our ultimate concern, presupposes in every sentence the structure of being, its categories, laws, and concepts. Theology, therefore, cannot escape the question of being any more easily than can philosophy

Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology Vol. I

[ablueorangeintheocean]

For "being" remains the content, the mystery, and the eternal aporia of thinking. No theology can suppress the notion of being as the power of being. One cannot separate them. In the moment in which one says that God is or that he has being, the question arises as to how his relation to being is understood. The only possible answer seems to be that God is being-itself, in the sense of the power of being or the power to conquer nonbeing." "Man, like every living being, is concerned about many things, above all about those which condition his very existence ... If [a situation or concern] claims ultimacy it demands the total surrender of him who accepts this claim ... it demands that all other concerns ... be sacrificed.

Paul Tillich

[sparky7u]

We All Believe

In an amazing blog post on the Yale University Press blog, Agustin Fuentes writes: We all believe. But we are not all religious. Belief is an evolved capacity that incorporates our neurobiology, our behavior, our cultures, our histories, our individual development and experiences. This enables humans to live in the

[too-early-in-the-morning]

Bahaha, it's really awkward because my brother is walking behind me and I have to keep switching tab so he doesn't think I'm a poof.

[too-early-in-the-morning]

So I just posted my ultimate concern- for those of you who don't know me in person (Which is like 103 of you) my ultimate concern is my brother.

So.... you guys have to have something like that, yeah? Something that is the most precious thing to you, that you'd give your life for, that you'd kill for? Y'all should tell me what it is. It'd be interesting.

[jevoussaluespinelli]

"Why adhere to a way of thinking that does not make sense because it lacks a credible referent, especially given the violence that religious adherents have promoted? The problem with this response lies in its inherent superficiality, because by jettisoning theology such thinking lacks a discourse in which to think or discuss ultimacy. Of course, ultimacy can be treated in other languages, including philosophy, ethics, mysticism, and naturalism, but these languages themselves are ungrounded precisely in the same way that theology cannot be grounded in a traditional belief in God. That is, questions of ultimate concern are theological issues, to use Paul Tillich's language, but they are ungrounded insofar as they possess no certain or stable foundation. Much antitheological discourse seeks to dispense with questions of ultimacy because of the dangers of arrogant fundamentalism. This move is purely reactive, and in fact any attempt to eliminate religion would have to become at least as violent as religious fanatics are purported to be."

- Clayton Crockett, Radical Political Theology