The Eternal Now

by Paul Tillich, David H. Kelsey

These 16 sermons contain in concentrated form some of Tillich's most lambent themes. Although they were first published in the early 1960s, the pieces in question take up preoccupations which continue to haunt us at the beginning of the 21st century. Tillich discusses, among other topics, wisdom; salvation; loneliness and solitude; creation in relation to the creator; inequality; and spiritual presence. He has a desire to make sense of the fundamental mystery of Christian the paradox of the moment which is now wherein comes the mystery which is eternity.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Philosophy, Christianity, Spirituality, Nonfiction

150 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Paul Tillich was a German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher. Tillich was – along with his contemporaries Rudolf Bultmann (Germany), Karl Barth (Switzerland), and Reinhold Niebuhr (United States) – one of the four most influential Protestant theologians of the 20th century. Among the general populace, he is best known for his works The Courage to Be (1952) and Dynamics of Faith (1957), which introduced issues of theology and modern culture to a general readership. Theologically, he is best known for his major three-volume work Systematic Theology (1951–63), in which he developed his "method of correlation": an approach of exploring the symbols of Christian revelation as answers to the problems of human existence raised by contemporary existential philosophical analysis.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Startling, terrifying, amazing. Tillich is to Christian theology what a small, ancient Chinese master is to judo. He takes one sentence of Scripture and flexes it, twists it, exerts pressure on its most critical angle, and slams you down on the mat with it, your head spinning and all the stars and blinding rush of pain and wind as the real evidence you've met the master. You can get up of course, dust yourself off and go at him again, but nothing will be the same. Heroic, epic, inspiring. A true master and the intellectual giant of 20th century Christian theology.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forget that this book is religious in nature or was written by a theologist--it is relevant for any person regardless of your religious beliefs. I myself am not a particularly religious person and I found no issue with this book's wisdom or ideas due to its religious basis. The chapter entitled "The Riddle of Inequality" has been one of the most powerful and influential things I have ever read. It changed the way I view the world. I was assigned it in high school eight or so years ago, and I still find myself coming back to it every year.

[Twilight O. ☭ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazingly rich, but dense to the point where I feel I failed to grasp about half the sermons first time around. Will be returning to this one, could easily see me bumping it up to a 5/5 once I do get around to that reread.

Edit: a few months later and I couldn't tell you a single thing about this book. What I got at the time was nice, and I could tell there was a richness beneath the surface I had yet to uncover, but Tillich's way of explaining himself is pained. It's almost as though the ideas he's expressing revolt at the thought of being understood, kicking and screaming until the reader gives up or musters up the motivation and focus to truly tackle it. Sadly, I think I'm one of the readers who will be giving up.

[Josh Issa · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 and a half milques out of 5 toasts.

I found this collection of sermons to be a lot more average than the previous collection I read in Shaking the Foundations. That collection was powerfully prophetic, whereas this one was more just run of the mill “be healed” messaging. I will say, Tillich still continues to help me grapple with the biblical text in a way to make it relevant and meaningful today. I just found at times I was bored reading this.

[Eric Harrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was glad to find this at a used book sale so I could read through it fully. This is a spiritual read. Chp. 6 Man and earth is ahead of its time (written in 60's): "...man’s relation to the earth and the universe will, for a long time, become the point of primary concern, for sensitive and thoughtful people. Should this be the case, Christianity certainly cannot withdraw into the deceptive security of its earlier questions and answers..." Chp. 8 The divine name- humbling.
online - http://www.religion-online.org/showbo...

[Marianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent example of a honest, daring, compassionate Christian thought. No difficult question is avoided, the language is incisive, analytical and rich without being ornate. People no longer think with such brilliance nowadays...

[Brandt · Rating 2 out of 5]

In The Eternal Now, Paul Tillich's intent is to answer a variety of questions that are concomitant with Ontology and Theology. It is written in a direct style that is free of the characteristic rhetorical frills of many religious works. Make no mistake Tillich is a sincerely religious man who frames his philosophical thinking in the Weltanschauung of Christianity. Nonetheless, in Tillich’s mode of existentialist manifestation, ideation of being-and Being - saturates the mundane milieu of religion.

Throughout the pages, Tillich provides an alternative ontological examination of the necessity in a belief of the Ultimate. The emblematic apologetic approach, as articulated in the works of Anselm of Canterbury, William of Ockham and Duns Scotus is destabilized by Tillich’s radical exposition that: If God is being – viz., the highest being-in-itself – then God cannot be the “Creator”. Consequently, God must be understood as the ground of Being-Itself. This analysis should not be considered all that radical. Many historical theologians expressed analogous views of God as the agennetos [non-original ground] of all Being (Cf. J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, p. 128).

What this text presents is a culmination of Tillich’s sermons [lectures] delivered to answer explicit questions relating to biblical passages. As an example, Chapter Three, "The Riddle of Inequality" – incidentally, my favorite chapter – starts with the following verse from Mark 4:25:

“For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away”

What Tillich then attempts to explicate, is the historical significance of this passage apropos the expression of meaning. Through a cursory trace of self-reflection, Tillich layers the historical meaning onto modernity by exclaiming, “There are many things that we seemed to have, but that we really did not have, and that were therefore taken away from us”. As an example, Tillich uses the widespread belief in childhood innocence as something that cannot be used or increased. “The growth of our lives is made possible only by the sacrifice of the original gift of ignorance”. Hence, there are many things we had [have] that are constantly being taken away because of “taking them too much for granted”.

The real inequalities, according to Tillich, are:

“[T]he inequality of talents in body and mind; the inequality created by freedom and destiny, and the inequality of justice deriving from the fact that all generations before the time of such equality would by nature be excluded from its blessing”

Therefore, Tillich's argument is that we must not confound the imbroglio of inequality with the understanding that each person is a “unique and incomparable self". We should be defending the uniqueness and individuality of humanity, while at the same time, understand that this is not the solution to inequality. Hence, maxims like “The Golden Rule,” and Immanuel Kant’s "Categorical Imperative" have their place, but it is not to help solve the riddle of inequality.

Ultimately, I appreciate Tillich’s style of writing and his exposition of some problems inherent to humanity. Although I must admit, I would prefer to highlight a great portion of the text with a black highlighter, his thoughts are intriguing. As a path forward, I would like to research the connection between Tillich and Martin Heidegger; concentrating on the ways in which their ideas are similar, but find different inspiration and results.

[zefis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: Prior to reading this I would’ve boldly declared my disdain for Tillich. Having a BA in Religion, I read Tillich 15 yeas ago when my theology was much more conservative and found him mushy at best.

The Eternal Now did not change my opinion initially. Tillich is verbose and heady, his theology much more in the clouds than it is on the ground. He uses the third person and makes assumptions about the human experience that are not always accurate, nor does he justify or cite them. In essence, it seems he is projecting his experience onto the rest of us.

At some points, in spite of his headiness, he touches on some truths in a new and enlivening way. For example, in one sermon Tillich expounds on the word sin. He discusses how sin in its current understanding is a distortion from the original intent to the word. Rather than sin being something humans do, sin was originally intended as a force that drives humans. He draws on Paul’s experience when Paul wrote “I do what I don’t want to do and I don’t do what I want to do.” In the context of my experience, this insight brought hope and clarity to some theological questions I’ve been asking for the last few years.

I still do not consider myself a Paul Tillich fan; however after giving The Eternal Now an honest chance I can say it’s given me access to some serenity and wisdom I did not formerly have.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think that the "eternal" might not just mean "forever and ever?" This guy really means it.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE THIRD VOLUME OF TILLICH’S PUBLISHED SERMONS

Paul Tillich (1886-1965) was a German-American theologian and Christian philosopher, who was dismissed from his teaching position in Germany after Hitler came to power in 1933. He came to America, where he taught at Union Theological Seminary and the Harvard Divinity School. The other volumes of his sermons (many given during chapel at Union Theological Seminary) are: 'The Shaking of The Foundations' and 'The New Being.'

The psychologist Rollo May [a close friend of Tillich’s] wrote a sympathetic biography of him ('Paulus') and Tillich’s wife Hannah wrote a much less-friendly account ('From Time to Time'). [NOTE: page numbers below refer to the 179-page paperback edition.]

He wrote in the Preface to this 1963 book, “Most of these sermons were delivered in university and college chapels… The present collection dates from 1955 to 1963. The title … indicates that the presence of the Eternal in the midst of the temporal is a decisive emphasis in most of the sermons. I could have chosen ‘The Spiritual Presence’ as the general title, but the many unfavorable connotations with which the word ‘Spiritual’ is burdened excluded this possibility. Only for a particular sermon in which every sentence interpreted the meaning of ‘Spiritual,’ could the word be used. It is my hope that this collection… will show that the Christian message… is relevant for our time if it uses the language of our time.”

In the first sermon, he points out, “man and woman remain alone even in the most intimate union. They cannot penetrate each other’s innermost center. And if this were not so, they could not be helpers to each other; they could not have human community. This is why God Himself cannot liberate man from his aloneness: it is man’s greatness that he is centered within himself. Separated from his world, he is thus able to look AT it. Only because he can look at it can he know and love and transform it. God, in creating him the ruler of the earth, had to separate him and thrust him into aloneness. Man is also therefore able to be spoken to by God and by man. He can ask questions and give answers and make decisions. He has the freedom for good and evil. Only he who has an impenetrable center in himself is free. Only he who is alone can claim to be a man. This is the greatness and this is the burden of man.” (Pg. 17)

He observes, “there is a forgetting, to which Paul witnesses, that liberates us not from the memory of past guilt but from the pain it brings. The grand old name for this kind of forgetting is repentance. Today, repentance is associated with a half-painful, half-voluptuous emotional concentration on one’s guilt, and not with a liberating forgetfulness. But originally it meant a ‘turning around,’ leaving behind the wrong way and turning towards the light. It means pushing the consciousness and pain of guilt into the past, not by repressing it, but by acknowledging it, and receiving the word of acceptance in spite of it. If we are able to repent, we are able to forget, not because the forgotten act was unimportant… but because we have acknowledged our guilt and can now live with it. For it is ETERNALLY forgotten.” (Pg. 31-32)

He states, “we cannot applaud every act of moral self-restraint, knowing that its cause may be cowardice preventing a revolution against inherited, though already questioned, rules of behavior. Nor can we praise every act of daring non-conformism, knowing that its reason may be the inability of an individual to resist the persuasive irresponsibility of a group of noncomformists. In these and countless other cases, we experience a power that dwells in us and directs our will against itself. The name of this power is sin.” (Pg. 50)

He notes, “Evil in the divine order is not only mystery; it is also revelation. It reveals the greatness and danger of life. He who can become sick is greater than he who cannot, than that which is bound to remain what it is, unable to be split in itself. He alone who is free is able to surrender to the demonic forces that turn his freedom into bondage. The gift of freedom implies the danger of servitude; and the abundance of life implies the danger of sickness. Man’s life is abundant life, infinitely complex, inexhaustible in its possibilities, even in the vitally poorest human beings. Man’s life is most open to disease.” (Pg. 61)

He argues, “We therefore have to deal with an astonishing fact: the same events that pushed man from his place in the center of the world, and reduced him to insignificance, also elevated him to a God-like position both on earth and beyond! Is there an answer to this contradiction?... Man is rooted in the same Ground in which the universe with all its galaxies is rooted. It is this Ground that gives greatness to everything, however small it may be… and it is this that makes all things small, however great---the stars as well as man. It gives significance to each individual man, and to mankind as a whole. This answer quiets our anxiety about our smallness, and it quells the pride of our greatness.” (Pg. 72)

He points out, “What the Christian message does tell us is that the meaning of history lies above history, and that, therefore, its length is irrelevant to its ultimate meaning. But it is not irrelevant with respect to the innumerable opportunities time affords for creation of life and spirit, and it is for these that we must right with all our strength. Furthermore, if history should end tomorrow, though mankind’s self-annihilation, the appearance of this planet and of man upon it will NOT have been in vain. For a being shall have appeared at least once, in the billions of years of the universe, towards whose creation all the forces of life on earth worked together, and in whom the image of the divine Ground of all life was present. At least once, a living being shall have come into existence, in whom life achieved its highest possibility---spirit. This is the ultimate source of man’s greatness… the depth of all things became manifest in ONE being, and the name of that being is MAN, and you and I are man!” (Pg. 76)

He says, “For this is what the Divine Spirit means: God present to our spirit. Spirit is not a mysterious substance; it is not a part of God. It is God Himself; but not God as the creative ground of all things and not God directing history and manifesting Himself in its central event, but God as present in communities and personalities, grasping them, inspiring them, and transforming them.” (Pg. 84)

He admits, “Doubt, and not certitude, is our human situation, whether we affirm or deny God. And perhaps the difference between them is not so great as one usually thinks. They are probably very similar in their mixture of faith and doubt. Therefore, the denial of God, if serious, should not shake us. What should trouble everyone who takes life seriously is the existence of indifference. For he who is indifferent, when hearing the name of God, and feels, at the same time, that the meaning of his life is being questioned, denies his true humanity.” (Pg. 97-98)

He observes, “The New Testament speaks of eternal life, and eternal life is not continuation of life after death. Eternal life is beyond past, present, and future: we come from it, we live in its presence, we return to it. It is never absent---it is the divine life in which we are rooted and in which we are destined to participate in freedom---for God alone has eternity. Man should not boast of having an immortal soul as his possession for, as the letter to Timothy says, God alone has immortality.’ [1 Tim 6:16] We are mortal like every creature, mortal with our whole being---body and soul---but we are also kept in the eternal life BEFORE we lived on earth, WHILE we are living in time, and AFTER our time has come to an end.” (Pg. 114-115)

He advises, “‘Stand firm in your faith’ means---don’t give up that faith that alone can make you ultimately strong, because it gives you the ultimate Ground on which to stand. Standing firm in one’s faith does not mean adhering to a set of beliefs; it does not require us to suppress doubts about Christian or other doctrines, but points to something which lies beyond doubt in the depth in which man’s being and all being is rooted. To be aware of this Ground, to live in it and out of it is ultimate strength.” (Pg. 151)

Tillich’s sermons are a much more accessible and “personal” side of his theology/philosophy, and will be of great interest to anyone seriously studying modern theology.

[Rena Sherwood]

DNF

Paul Tillich is a Christian apologist that other Christians make fun of. I love it when Christians get furious with other Christians, so I thought I'd check The Eternal Now out.

Big mistake.

I was trying to remember which famous writer he reminded me of, then it hit me:

Anne Rice.

I don't know how many times I plowed through 600 pages of gorgeous prose, only to shut the book and realize that only one page's worth of action happened. The other 599 were all filler. This is why I stopped reading Anne Rice.

That's what you get in these collections of sermons and speeches. Starts off promising, sounds like a really good point is coming -- and then it's over. Off to the next one.

Lots of soothing prose, but no damn point.

One early piece is called "The Riddle of Inequality", trying to do mental gymnastics to justify Mark 4:25, which is the Biblical basis for prosperity Christianity and why rich Christians have no qualms squashing the poor, women, the animals, and anything else that gets in between them and their wallets. Tillich basically just cops out and says that this is a riddle that can never be solved ... because, you know, God knows best, and all that.

Huh?

I finally gave up on page 74, when he was talking about how the Bible says God gave man dominion over the animals. How convenient for man. Tillich writes:

We yearn to return to the state of creatures, which are unaware of themselves or their world, limited to the satisfaction of their animal needs.

That's a total lie. Animals are self-aware. They are more aware of their surroundings and environment than you are, because their senses are far superior than a person's. We also know that many animals can use tools, can plan for the future, have a sense of humor, and can grieve.

If there are such things as souls, animals have them, but not humans.

No stars for this toxic vomit.

[Andy Oram · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of sermons, these are thoughtful explorations of key questions in life, such as why some people are more privileged and fortunate than others, and how to deal with the feeling that there is more to life than work and pressure. I was moved by the very contemporary-sounding treatment of global catastrophe in Chapter 6, Man and Earth.

The sermons are short, clearly written for the most part, and focused each on a single theme. So they're easy to consume. But the anthology format precludes an exposition of Tillich's theology. Interesting rays of it come through, though.

[Karen Berlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sixteen of Paul Tillich sermons cover a wide variety of topics, (the riddle of inequality, "the good that I will, I do not," salvation, loneliness, solitude, wisdom, gratitude and more) providing thought-provoking and spirit inspiring material. A thin book for heavy contemplation, the collection is likely best read one message at a time, allowing ample for reflection and pondering before moving onto the next.

[Euwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sixteen sermons, all brief philosophical and theological treatises in its own right, covering the thought and affirmations of the great theologian Paul Tillich— what an insight he had into the nature of time and eternity, who managed to speak of God and spiritual matters in such pleasing and accessible modern language!

[Daniel Pardieck · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspirational and deep series of sermons by the great 20th century theologian, Paul Tillich. Careful and meditative reading will bring out the depth of this collection. Both Christians and non-Christians can find much of value, here.

[Austin Spence · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my fav theologians taking all his knowledge and condensing it into a collection of sermons. I got a lot from about 5/16 of them. With that being said, the 5 really were above and beyond great.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Tillich is one of those theologians I've seen mentioned and quoted here and there by other theologians I respect, and now I know why. While I don't think they're all equally successful, this book of sermons is a wonderful picture of, well, I don't know what to call it, really. Deep Christianity? The one on "The Riddle of Inequality" was especially moving, telling me something about the Cross I'd never heard before: "It is the greatness and heart of the Christian message that God, as manifest in the Christ on the Cross, totally participates in the dying of a child, in the condemnation of the criminal, in the disintegration of a mind, in starvation and famine, and even in the human rejection of Himself. There is no human condition into which the divine presence does not penetrate" (p. 46). He speaks to Christians and non-Christians, and in no way defines what he calls "the Christian message" as the only message. He wants to go deeper than superstitions and rituals, and I respect that. I like that I could figure out that he's Protestant but nothing more about his particular denomination from this book, only that he believes that God is the eternal Ground of being from which we all spring naked, to which we all return, and in which we may rest.

[Steven Bullmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

These sermons won't preach now; way too much deep theology for post-moderns. But I sure appreciated them when I was in seminary!
Read this book again. Still love everything Tillich has written that I've read. His Christian existentialist approach to life speaks to my soul; and there were many times I thought of Job, the book of the Bible I'm currently reading, and how God helped Job find "the courage to be" in the face of a life of pain and absurdity.
Actually, I think these sermons could preach now; because they address tensions people still experience and mysteries of life people are still trying to solve. But they would have to be preached in the hands of a "translator" who knew how to take these eternal questions and communicate them for today.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A re-read following Christmas last year. I thought a sermon a day would be a good way to close out 2020 and begin 2021. Little did I know how relevant Tillich's ideas concerning power (and its overreach), wisdom (and foolishness), and dignity (or complete lack thereof) would be. Reading these meditations on the problems faced by humankind and the way the divine seeks to lead us in the context of Trump's despicable phone call to Brad Raffensperger and the ensuing Capitol insurrection was chilling. It's almost as if Tillich looked into a crystal ball in the early 1960's and sent a message in a bottle to us. Too bad we didn't read and heed the warnings sooner.

[Helene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend told me that this is a very accessible work by Tillich and I agree. You don't need to know much about existentialist philosophy to enjoy this book. I think the three main divisions of the book are a very helpful way to organize the chapters (sermons) on various topics. I especially liked his chapters on Solitude versus Loneliness and The Presence of God. The parts that I liked least were the ones dealing with the future, since his views were influenced by political events of the day and are less relevant today. All in all, I loved his insights and new perspectives of God and His ways.

[John]

A wonderful companion to moments of solitude and loneliness, Tillich's sermons resonate in the 21st century. Only one or two sermons in this collection were dated. The remainder take you to psychological applications of Tillich's method of correlation (philosophy poses the questions, religion provides the answers, and not always answers one would expect).

[Evan Kostelka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had heard a lot of good things about Tillich and he had good things to say but for me I had a tough time following his points. ultimately I felt he left things too esoteric for me. Words cannot come close to describing the Ground of our Being as he calls it yet other theologians speak to me more than Tillich.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book of Tillich sermons!

[Charles Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of lectures and sermons. Great thoughts.

[Donovick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Import, especially during times of introspection.

[Michael Chrobak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book and am looking forward to reading more of his work.

[Rick]

Reading Tillich is like scrubbing your mind and letting it absorb more light. I was fascinated with the 'eternal now' and 'stronger' discussions. It touched my intellect and my.heart.

[Kent Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very profound. In spite of being written in the 50's most is very relevant and timeless.

They are a collection of sermons so you get a complete thought in reading one chapter. The Eternal Now is both the title and one of the chapters. The other chapters are not connected in an overarching theme but stand alone.

You need to be reflective and philosophical to get the most from this book. I often read a page or two as part of my personal devotions, then going to the scripture or scriptures highlighted in the chapter for further consideration. This is why it took me 3 weeks to read.

I suspect I will re-read chapters again in the future.