The Future of Religions Quotes

“Endless progress may be symbolized by running ahead indefinitely into an empty space. We will do that, but it is not the meaning of life; nor are better and better gadgets the meaning of life. What is the meaning of life then? Perhaps it is something else. Perhaps there are great moments in history. There is in these great moments not total fulfillment but there is the victory over a particular power of destruction, a victory over a demonic power which was creative and now has become destructive. This is a possibility, but don't expect that it must happen. It might not happen; that is a continuous threat hanging over development in history. But there may be a kairos.”
― Paul Tillich, The Future of Religions

“But nothing is more difficult than to accept the last impassable border. Everything finite would like to extend itself into infinity. The individual wants to continue his life indefinitely, and in many Christian lands a superstition has developed inside and outside the churches which misinterprets eternal life as endless duration, and does not perceive that an infinity of the finite could be a symbol for hell. In the same way, families resist their finitude in time and in space and destroy each other in a reciprocal battle to eliminate the frontier. But most important for the possibility of peace is the acceptance of their own finitude by the nations - of their time, of their space, and of the finitude of their worth.”
― Paul Tillich, The Future of Religions

“When destiny leads one to the frontier of his being, it makes him personally conscious that he stands before the decision either to fall back upon that which he already is or else to transcend himself. Every person is at that point led to the frontier of his being. He perceives the Other over beyond himself, and it appears to him as a possibility and awakens in him the anxiety of the potential. He sees in the mirror of the other his own limitedness, and he recoils; for at the same time this limitedness was his security, and now it is threatened. The anxiety of the potential draws him back into his bounded reality and its momentary calm. But the situation into which he will return is no longer the same. His experience of the potential and his failure toward it leaves a thorn behind, which cannot be eliminated, which can only be driven out of the consciousness by suppression. And where that occurs, there arises that spiritual phenomenon which we call fanaticism. The original meaning of the word is "divinely inspired" - that is, born out of a distraught spiritual structure and thereby destructively fulfilled. That can appear in smaller, greater or enormous measure, in persons and in groups.”
― Paul Tillich, The Future of Religions

“At this point an observation can be made which should have some restraining effect on the drive towards earth-transcending imaginations (whether they are called experiences or mere phantasy): the content of these imaginations is always a combination of elements taken from earthly experience. The "beings" whose pictures are given are either glorified (angels and heavenly saints), or vilified duplications of the human figure (demons and inmates of hell), or they are combinations of elements by which the human figure is disfigured, as in scientific fiction. This shows a definite limit on man's possibility of escaping the bondage to this earth even in imagination. The imagined worlds are construed with parts or elements of earthly experiences, even if these experiences are religious or artistic.”
― Paul Tillich, The Future of Religions