Wednesday, November 13, 2013

"The Shaking of the Foundations"

This volume is a collection of 22 sermons by Paul Tillich, mostly delivered at Union Theological Seminary. Tillich hopes they may be useful for those who would like to understand his theological thought as presented in the most clear form.

Chapter 1 “The Shaking of hte Foundations” pp. 1-11

Jeremiah 4:23-30; Isaiah 54:10; Isaiah 24:18-20

The words of the prophets are forceful. We need, now more than ever, to take them seriously.
When God founded the earth He bound the destructive heat inside, creating a habitable place.
Man has learned to use the forces of creation for his purpose - DESTRUCTION
God has spoken to us by giving man this power.
Destruction is bad, we try to restrain ourselves.
We hold a hope, a small hope, that we will not use our scientific prowess to destroy the world.
Yet our desire is to raise ourselves to God’s place.
In waging war we are rejecting our self-exaltation.
We dare not be silent when the foundations of civilization are being shaken.
The shaking will be expressed by some
The shaking will be rejected by others.
The prophets were transfixed by God, not by their surroundings. We also must look to the Lord who made all, including the foundations.

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