So immediately starting this article I did not like it. I am
for freedom of speech, but I don't like that much of disrespect towards my own
religion. This Calvin guy and I would not be able to be friends in reality. I
understand he makes some valid arguments that from a non-religious view could
be seen as logical, "He creates light and darkness, that he forms good and
evil, and that no evil occurs which He has not performed"(1). However,
from a religious view this can taken as majorly offensive, especially if you
were raised in a family where God is good and only Satan is bad, not God is
both. All in all I found this article fairly insulting, that someone could so
openly tear down Christianity and call it just "human weakness", and
did not enjoy reading it. I understand there are other views of the world and
of religion than that in which I grew up with, but that does not mean I enjoy
reading their opinions.
However, I can see this article being of high debate during
its time period to present day. I can also see how it challenged the church and
the public about their beliefs. In a way Tillich reminds me of Socrates,
Tillich speaks out against popular belief and challenges that in which they
believe in. This makes them uncomfortable, but at the same time opens up their
minds to other ideas outside of the only thing they know to be right.
Even if the point is to sell books and get talked about i agree with Aly. Everyone is entitled to have an opionion but that doesn't mean you have to say things in such a way where it is seen a slamming. His statment and thoughts came out strong and they still are a topic of debate in our day and time. At the end of the day a christian stand point is God is good and only does good things. Making this ready very contriversial.
ReplyDeleteBrett, I understand the point of which he wrote this article for. But I don't think he had to go that far against Christianity just to raise everyones eyebrows. Because even in today's time this is still a very contraversial topic. So I agree with you that it wasn't so much of a slam as it was just to get people talking about his ideas and opinions. But that doesn't mean I really agree with how he chose to get his point across to the public.
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