He would say that our Ultimate Concern, whatever that may be, is our god. But, he believes there is an infinite source that all life has sprung from, the ground of being itself that is not existence or being, and we are finite beings that yearn for the infinite. It is our existential encounter with the threat of our non-being(death) that causes us to search for and participate in this infinite. This Ultimate Concern does not have to be God, but it could be a nation, money, etc...When we surrender ourselves to whatever we love the most it causes us to sacrifice other parts of our lives and we become separated to our ultimate concern, therefore we are holy. One can participate in demonic holiness, or the holiness from authenticity. He says that our state in which we are passionate and surrendering to this ultimate concern is faith. Faith is the center of our person. It is not reason, or doubt, but has elements of both in it along with the other elements that comprise the personality. He borrows a a lot from Freud. He also states that no one should take the Bible literally. That symbol is the language of faith. That a symbol is language that points beyond itself and participates in that which it points to. Like our national flag is more than a flag. It represents our country...The resurrection, to him, was a symbol of the opportunity to become a new creation. We can be resurrected now as Jesus was, symbolically.
It gets even more complex, but many theolgians considered him to be the Athiests Theologian. I thought he was genius. I hope this explains it a little. |