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traced to this.
Even in Christianity, Jesus conflict with his disciples concerned just this point. They wanted
to make him, in his finitude, ultimate namely "the Christ." And therefore Jesus called Peter
demonic, saying, "Go away, Satan!" when he tried to persuade the Master not to sacrifice his
finitude on the cross. This is a wonderful example. And for me it is the most revealing story in
the whole of the synoptic Gospels, for in it we find two great elements: on the one hand the
acknowledgment, "Thou art the Christ," which means "he who will come and bring the end,
the fulfillment of reality"; and on the other the answer, "But I must go to Jerusalem, and then
die." Peter insists that this must not happen. And Jesus says in effect, "This is a satanic
temptation that you represent" [Matt. 16:2V23].1 Here, in this story, we have the whole
problem of ultimate concern and idolatry.
Professor: Must we then add to that term "unfinite" ultimate concern?
Dr. Tillich: No, we cannot do it grammatically that way. But it is certainly implied. It is
indeed implied. All concerns with finite things, even our concern with this seminar, are
preliminary; they are not ultimate. Perhaps we might use the word "infinite concern," a
different word, which is Kierkegaardian since it evokes his "infinite passion." I would be glad
to designate it this way. Or you may believe that simply "concern" is best. If you want to use
"seriousness" or "passion" or "interest" (also a word of Hegel s and therefore of Kierkegaard),
you can use these terms. They all are meaningful, although they have their shortcomings.
"Concern," which I find the best word, also has shortcomings. One word, however, we must
choose.
Student: The term which I personally have found useful is "the absolutely trustworthy."
Dr. Tillich: Trust is one element in this concern. There is also awe. And we must experience
both trust and awe. But these elements are consequences that go more into the description of
the content of the concern. I would follow you in this but I would not include those words in
the formal definition.
Student: I have one more question. I asked it once before, but do not really feel that I ve been
answered. You have said that ultimate concern cannot be based on something finite; is that
correct?
Dr. Tillich: Yes, for instance, in the moment Christ, or Jesus, went the way of the cross, he
could become the Christ, and not before.
Student: Now I know of concerns that I have, and they are various. One will be more
important than another, and I have one concern that is above all other concerns. But this top
concern is not necessarily the ultimate concern that you are talking about.
Dr. Tillich: No. You can have a highest concern in the realm of the finite. You can say for
instance, "I have concern for my wife, for my children, for my job, for my work, but in a
critical moment, my nation is a higher concern." That is the preaching we heard, day by day,
in our imperial period in Germany. "The highest concern is the nation." Now this might be
true in relation to other finite things, because society itself is a presupposition of the existence
of all its members. But when a nation comes into conflict with the really ultimate concern,
then we have to protest against the idolizing of the nation. We may have to be killed or exiled
because of this protest. But you see, the unconditional or ultimate should not be viewed as
part of a pyramid, even if its place is at the top. For the ultimate is that which is the ground
and the top at the same time, or the embracing of the pyramid.
Student: It is qualitatively different?
Dr. Tillich: Very good!
Student: Hence the question I asked before: What evidence do we have for supposing that
there is a concern qualitatively different from that which is based on the finite?
Dr. Tillich: We can only point to it. People have made it known; and we can find it in
ourselves. There is no external evidence for it.
Student: Is it existential? One has to experience it himself?
Dr. Tillich: Oh, of course. If we don t experience it ourselves, we cannot even speak of it.
And my thesis is that everybody experiences it at some time or place, although often it is hard
to discover, for oneself or for others. But it is my experience that among all the human beings
I have ever met quite a few! I have never found anybody who had nothing which he
took with unconditional seriousness. There was always something. The ultimate experiment,
perhaps, is to find out from the cynic who says to you, "I don t take anything seriously," what
he actually does take seriously; sometimes it is his glory in his cynicism, or possibly his
despair in it. Since I know this qualitatively different concern in myself, I can perhaps see it or
recognize it also in others. If one has never recognized it in oneself, even though it is there, it
is hard to recognize in others.
Looking at the history of religions, we find that there are people who cannot explain their
concern in any other way than that they felt driven to their action or mode of life. Let us leave
the example of Christ for the moment and consider the influence of Buddha. Most human
beings in eastern Asia for 2,500 years now have found the meaning of their life expressed in
what the historical or mythological Buddha (really both) did when he abandoned everything,
left behind what he could have had in glory, for a concern that transcended him. That is what I
mean by ultimate concern.
Student: Is it not inevitable for an infinite concern to become finite in one way or another?
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