Lecture 36 is a chapter in Paul Tillich's book The History of Christian Thought. It discusses topics like predestination, good and evil, and providence, while incorporating Calvin's views in with his own, and discussing how they differ.
Honestly, I'm pretty confused after reading the Lecture. It's not really clear to me which parts are Calvin's beliefs, and which are Tillich's responses and own feelings. Pretty much, Calvin is the founder of Calvinism, obviously, which is sort of an alternate view of Christianity and what it really means. I think John Calvin was really stubborn and didn't want to just follow the same belief system that everyone else was. Because of this, he created Calvinism which takes some of the basic ideas of Christianity and twists and distorts them according to his beliefs.
Along with most other people I assume, I don't agree with the idea that God created evil. God created man, period. And he created man to have the ability to choose. Man can choose evil, absolutely, but that in no way comes from God Himself. Nothing comes from the Lord, I believe, that isn't directly good or holy. He cannot tolerate unholiness or sin which is why the conscious choice of the opposite of those will result in an everlasting peace with Him in Heaven.
I think the discussion in class this week will be very interesting!
I agree with you views on Calvinism. I think that it was just a twist on things to get people thinking and grasp their attention. I also agree with what you said about predestination and the choices of humanity.
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