Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Tillich, 1948. Chapter 18, "Waiting"

Chapter 18, “Waiting” pp. 149-152

Psalm 130:5-7; Romans 8:24-25

These passages deal with waiting. But waiting is not merely waiting. It is waiting for something. Because that something is God’s presence, we can say confidently that the waiting indicates both possessing something and not possessing it. This, says Tillich, is the essence of the Christian life. We must always decide we are waiting for God’s presence. The job is never done. At one and the same time, the pastor and theologian proclaim the God who is present and not yet present. We do have God’s presence, but we must wait until his coming. The Christian life, then, is a life of constant tension between having and not having.

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