2025 Readings 29

 I recently finished Paul Tillich's The Courage to Be. He was briefly discussed in Charles Mathewes's Great Courses lectures on Why Evil Exists. Tillich's The Courage to Be, which is his work designed for a popular audience - as compared to his three volume masterwork Systematic Theology - was still a challenging read. I listened to it on Audible, which made it harder to pause for a deeper reflection, obviously, but I did what I normally do in situation like that - I sometimes pull the car over and email myself a note about a certain chapter. Of course, trying to find a physical copy of The Courage to Be proved to more challenging that I figured, since the local library in Montpelier doesn't have one. However, I will track one down, because I would like to revisit this work in greater depth. Tillich discussed the role of anxiety in the development of the self, focusing on the Anxiety of Death (which he associated with the beginnings of Christianity), the Anxiety of Faith (which he associated with the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation), and the Anxiety of Meaninglessness (which he associates with the 20th century and beyond). Obviously, these are not purely chronological phenomena, and they can exist concurrently today. In response, he discussed the need to focus on the concept of Being, including coming to terms with Non-Being. This is the part of his argument that is going to require that I track down a physical copy of the book for a more sustained reflection and analysis. Tillich talked about reaching the God beyond God, that is, not the theistic God that is limited by our perceptions of essence and existence, and who turns us into a mere Object (in fact, Tillich proposes, I would say correctly, that placing God in a Subject/Object relationship with us is also insulting to God), and instead is existence. I found this notion really moving, even as I struggled to truly get my brain around it. Again, I need to track down a physical copy for serious study.