The Dynamics of Faith
The Dynamics of Faith is an in-depth look at what faith is from a theological perspective. Tillich seems to be replying to all of the writers we have read thus far and placing their arguments within the context of faith. Nowhere is this more apparent than on page 24, in his discussion of community. He rightly acknowledges that faith is usually seen in its sociologic setting. He then proceeds to sort out the different claims, saying that
community is necessary to see the manifestation of faith because we need the language to express it. He also states that we need community for the content of our faith. This is almost Durkheimian, except that Tillich does not seem to be saying that community is necessary for faith because we are ultimately concerned with society, as Durkheim would claim, but that we cannot express that faith without community. This is a nice way of tying
together the religious experiences that James describes with the aspect of community that Durkheim discusses.
Tillich's observations seem to fit very well with any religious...
In Paul Tillich’s 1957 work Dynamics of Faith, he mentions that there are six major components of faith. These six components of faith describe the Franciscan perspective of “faith”. According to Tillich, the first component of faith is “the state of being ultimately concerned”. The second component of faith is that it is supposed to be at the center of all of our personal lives and everything that we do throughout our own individual lives. The third component of faith is that we should have an awareness for “infinite” things such as God himself. The fourth component of faith is that we need to understand that faith can act as fear, fascination, or both of these qualities at the same time. The fifth component of faith is that doubt is a major product that will always exist with faith. The last component of faith is that we need a community in order to have a “language of faith”.
Rachel Held Evans in “Faith Unraveled” questions every part of her religion, and is not sure how she should be living her life. Evans struggles to fully believe in faith that Christians are supposed to. She has all these questions and doubts, and is looking for answers but struggles to find the answers. Other Christians think what she is doing is unfaithful and she is not a real Christian. She is curious how people who profess Gods’ holy name, but then do not act in a holy way will be judged. Skeptics exist in almost every aspect of life, but when it comes to religion there seems to be a lot more. She struggles to handle some of the questions the skeptics ask and makes her question her religion. Evans also struggles to understand how this
Emile Durkheim As An Idealist In "Elementary Forms Of The Religion Life" Durkheim's most important rationale in The Elementary Forms was to explain and clarify the generally primordial religious conviction identified by man. However, his focus as a consequence irk a number of outside connection for historians as his fundamental rationale went distinctly ahead of the modernization of an old culture for its own accord; quite the opposite, Durkheim's interest in The Division of Labor and Suicide, was eventually both contemporary as well as workable as he asserts that if prehistoric religion were taken as the topics of investigations, then it is for the reason that it apparently appears “to us better adapted than any other to lead to an understanding of the religious nature of man, that is to say, to show us an essential and permanent aspect of humanity”. Durkheim's doctrine studies that the society must abstain from reductionism and think about social phenomena- sui generis, disqualifying biologist or psychologist explanations; he focused concentration on the social-structural elements of mankind's social problems. Even though in his previous work Durkheim defined social facts by their constraint, massing his main part on the execution of the legal system, he was afterward moved to shift his views considerably. He then emphasized that those social facts and moral codes become potent guides and controls of behavior only to the extent that they become internalized in the cognizance of individuals, while persisting to subsist exclusively of individuals. This, compulsion is not a customary restraint of distant controls on individual will, but rather a moral commitment to conform to a rule. Durkheim attempted to study social facts not onl...
Paul Tillich. “What Faith Is”. The Human Experience: Who Am I?. 8th ed. Winthrop University: Rock Hill SC, 2012. 269-273. Print.
A time comes in everybody's life where they need to be "saved." When this happens a spiritual bond is formed with in that individual. In Langston Hughes' essay, "Salvation," that bond is broken because Langston wasn't saved. It is because Langston turned to Jesus, and in his eyes Jesus wasn't there. This creating a conflict within himself and the members of the church, with the end result being Langston's faith being destroyed.
The crux of Emile Durkheim’s The Elementary Forms of Religious Life lies in the concept of collective effervescence, or the feelings of mutually shared emotions. Through a hermeneutical approach, Durkheim investigates the reflexiveness of social organization, the balance between form and content, and the immense cooperation in collective representations. In his work, society is the framework of humanity and gives it meaning, whereas religion acts as the tool to explain it. Since society existed prior to the individual, the collective mind must be understood before the concept of the individual can be grasped. However, one component seems missing from his social theory – what underlies society in terms of rituals and rites? Only when this element is fleshed out can the individual be comprehended with respect to the collective conscience. One, out of many, possibilities is the often-overlooked influence of emotions. What is the connection between social functions and emotions? Perhaps emotions reify social solidarity by means of a collective conscience. Durkheim posits the notion that society shares a bilateral relationship with emotional experiences, for the emotions of collective effervescence derive from society but also produce and maintain the social construct.
Durkheim, Emile. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print.
bond of faith. As a result of this emphasis on community, the rights of the
The role of faith has been debated among many theologians, scientists, and philosophers. It has been greatly discussed and depicted throughout history as whether faith is logical when it comes to religion or whether faith is completely absurd. In this essay, I will focus on the role of faith through the lenses of Christian philosophers Sorean Kierkegaard and Paul Tillich. Faith plays an important role in Kierkegaard and Tillich theology; I will critically examine their depiction of faith and compare and contrast their passages. Kiergarrd view of faith is that it is completely absurd where as Ti
Stephens, Randall J. “Assessing the Roots.” American Religious Experience at WVU. The American Religious Experience. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
In today’s modern western society, it has become increasingly popular to not identify with any religion, namely Christianity. The outlook that people have today on the existence of God and the role that He plays in our world has changed drastically since the Enlightenment Period. Many look solely to the concept of reason, or the phenomenon that allows human beings to use their senses to draw conclusions about the world around them, to try and understand the environment that they live in. However, there are some that look to faith, or the concept of believing in a higher power as the reason for our existence. Being that this is a fundamental issue for humanity, there have been many attempts to explain what role each concept plays. It is my belief that faith and reason are both needed to gain knowledge for three reasons: first, both concepts coexist with one another; second, each deals with separate realms of reality, and third, one without the other can lead to cases of extremism.
Pope John Paul II once said, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (Fallible Blogma) Based on this significant and powerful quote, one can infer that faith and reason are directly associated and related. It can also be implied that the combination of faith and reason allows one to seek information and knowledge about truth and God; based on various class discussions and past academic teachings, it is understood that both faith and reason are the instruments that diverse parties are supposed to use on this search for truth and God. There are many stances and viewpoints on the issues of faith and reason. Some believe that both of these ideas cannot and should not be combined; these parties deem that faith and reason must be taken as merely separate entities. However, this writer does not understand why both entities cannot be combined; both terms are so closely compatible that it would make sense to combine the two for a common task. Based on various class discussions and readings, there are many philosophers and theologians who have certain opinions regarding faith, reason and their compatibility; these philosophers include Hildegard of Bingen, Ibn Rushd, Moses Maimonides, and St. Thomas Aquinas. The following essay will examine each of the previously stated philosopher’s viewpoints on faith and reason, and will essentially try to determine whether or not faith and reason are ultimately one in the same.
Durkheim, E. (1965). The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. New York, New York: The
agency. Rituals within religious life leads to success. Durkheim’s beliefs and practices are relative to sacred things. She believes God is society and religion as not purely individual but the manifestation of the social fact. She ultimately is a functionalist. She focuses on structure and the big picture of things and the way the religious system reflects on society. Society is what gives you a sense of categories that you live by. This clashes from what we are used to with the social norm. We feel as if we’re all different, but hold many traits that bring us together. The function of marriage is to build social networks between families. As a conformist following the social norms by knowing what is right and wrong to stay out of
The most critical difference they have is that Tylor and Frazer advocate for a substantive, intellectualist perspective while Durkheim pushes for a functionalist, reductionist approach to religion. Durkheim’s approach allows for the development of a scientifically observable explanation to prove his notion of religion as a social purpose. Durkheim’s observable proof is displayed through the practice of religious communal ceremonies and ritual practices such as Christian mass or Hindu celebration of Holi. To expand, both communal and independent expressions of religion such as praying or meditation, result in social cohesion because they provide a sense of what one is supposed to be doing as a member of a specific community. On the other hand, Tylor and Frazer merely create their own standards of evaluating religion’s purpose and effectiveness through their subjective interpretation of linear human progression. The point is that Durkheim’s evidence that religion’s purpose is social rather than intellectual is physically observable through religious ceremonies and rituals. Moreover, it can be suggested that these ceremonies are not performed for the purpose of intellectual advancement but rather social cohesion. If it was the case that religious ceremonies and rituals were performed with the intent to gain intellectual advancement, than it is unlikely that they would involve the entire community, perform customary practices or take place on formalistic dates. Further, Durkheim states, “[r]religious ideas can be discarded and changed, but religious rituals or something very much like them, must endure. Society cannot exist without ceremony; community requires religiosity” (Pals: Nine Theories, 105). Durkheim is accurate in this statement because without ceremony, a community cannot exist because there is no uniformity or collective