Tolstoy And Paul Tillich's Analysis

“Faith alone is the saving and efficacious use of the Word of God, according to Rom. 10{:9}” (16).

Many people would agree that without faith, the world would be in chaos. The book Christian Foundation by Kathleen Fischer and Thomas Hart gives an interpretation on faith in our time. Many people would question the definition of faith. Faith is a gift, which is given by God to have trust in him and belief in him. This book is a great entry in anyone's life that has speculation on his or her own faith. The book has many ways into understanding ones own religion. It discusses the Bible, Jesus, Church, God's existence and Images of God. All of these chapters helped me get a better interpretation of what my religion entailed.

In life, there is a constant battle ensuing over faith and reason. Those two things are constantly feeding off of each other in someone’s mind when making a decision. Over time in which some say is a great conversation about history this battle is changing. The Great Conversation of history spans over many eras where the questions of faith and reason are always things battling for a spot in our minds, but they shouldn’t be in battle because they are very much dependent on the other. Among the time periods from Ancient Greece, the Enlightenment, and the 19th century, writers such as Socrates, Kant, and Martin Luther King Jr have looked at the issue of faith and reason.

In the early eighteenth-century, a letter from Peter the Great’s court was sent to Russian publishers declaring that all material must be printed with the intention to maintain “The glory of the great sovereign and his tsardom and for the general usefulness and profit of the nation” (The Cambridge History of Russia). The effects of this proclamation reverberated throughout Russia for centuries and laid the foundation for future rulers such as Catherine the Great and later Alexander III to fortify the position of the censor. The strengthening of the Russian censor, consequently, manipulated and stifled the country’s most influential wordsmiths. No Russian writer was safe from the censor, not even a master like Leo Tolstoy. Specifically, in

Faith, defined as a strong belief in something which cannot be proven, has been argued over countless generations. Still, even without proof, individuals worldwide hold true to their faith each day. After studying faith and religion in texts written by scholars with varying backgrounds, it is easy to see faith is something which is widely disputed. Comparison of Sigmund Freud’s The Future of an Illusion and Paul Tillich’s Dynamics of Faith, fully displays the discrepancies in points of view on the function of faith, as well as the necessity of faith, in society; while the comparison of Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Karl Marx’s “on the Future of Religion,” demonstrate both similarities and differences

In today’s time faith seems to be the essence that solves problems and causes wars. In the beginning of time faith did the same. During William Bradford’s period of discovering the new world Bradford used his faith to power through every obstacle with a clear mind knowing whatever happened was Gods will.

In Night, Wiesel shows that while faith may not solve everyone’s problems, it does however have the power to reduce conflict and act to protect a person’s humanity, when it’s being challenged by impossible circumstances.

Paul's Tillich's formal definition of faith made up/was equal to a brilliantly showing the ability to create interesting new things attempt to clear up the meaning of a word that tradition heavily weighed down with religious baggage. The question definitely/as one would expect concerns the extent, if any, to which his definition of the term was forcing/forceful/interesting and helpful. The first major argument or point in an argument of this written opinion is that his analysis did not require/result in faith being defined as final/very best concern. The second principal argument is that the treatment he gave to doubt did not show or prove its energetic/changing role in the life of faith. The ending/deciding point is that the truth of faith

Faith is the belief in a person, thing, or idea without concrete evidence of its certainty. Although in some arenas, such as science, it is looked down upon, faith is ever presence in people's lives. It takes faith to belief that a chair will support one’s weight. It takes faith to belief that others will fulfill their promises and responsibilities. John Donne, Robert Fink, and Annie Dillard are three authors who use faith as a topic for one of their works.

Tillich sees faith to be the state of being ultimately concerned; that the dynamics of faith must be the dynamics of a humans’ ultimate concern. When he says “the ultimate concern” he references to both the act of faith and the content of faith. To be ultimately concerned includes the object that one is ultimately concerned about; for one to allow faith to be their ultimate concern, they must not have any other worries in their life. Human beings have many concerns, some of which are spiritual and others such as morals, physical features, political etc. but ranked higher than all is the concern for the necessities for ones’ own existence. When giving a concern ultimacy it takes the concern to a higher level, fundamentally giving it a religious characteristic; meaning that being ultimately concern demands one has to surrender themselves leaving behind them every distraction that would not allow them to devote themselves to their concern in order to achieve fulfillment. Tillich uses the example of Jewish faith in the lord which is a religious form of being ultimately concerned and the concern for materialistic items or money are non-religious for of faith. Tillich uses the example of a nation. If a national decided to make one specific aspect their ultimate concern, giving only one aspect ultimacy then the nation will have to sacrifice their other concerns. Tillich demonstrates with his statement of “Faith as Ultimate Concern” that giving a concern ultimacy takes it to the religious

same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Faith

According to dictionary.com the definition of faith is a “belief that is not based on proof.” Meanwhile, the definition of reason is “a basis or cause, as for some belief, action, fact, event, etc.” From these definitions it is apparent that faith and reason can be thought of as 2 ends of a spectrum. Faith is on one end and reason is on the other. Pure faith would be the lack of reason; and pure reason would be the lack of faith. Freud is interesting in the sense that he counters the view of Marx. Marx believes religion is the opium of the people. Whereas Freud defined opium as a drug, rather than a medicine as Marx did. Freud, like me, believes that “religious belief [is] a kind of illusion…” (182). I believe that religion can dull the human mind, and can cause people to believe

Leo Tolstoy’s aesthetical assessment of art, and the role progress plays in regards to it, contrast greatly from that of the French artist, Marcel Duchamp. However connections can be made between their various aesthetical art theories, including in a way, the relationship the art has with the viewer. Although the audience’s role is radically different to each, it is essential component to both, Duchamp’s and Tolstoy’s aesthetical theories.

Faith and reason were two modes of belief that dominated the history of Western Civilization. Both faith and reason were popularized as tools to understand the universe in Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian eras. By conflicting with each other, these two modes of belief sparked a lot of controversy. Reason or rationality is belief based on concrete evidence and logic. The development of one’s reason relies heavily on observation and questioning. Greco-Roman philosophers believed in the power of the human mind to understand the world. So in order to find ultimate truth, Greco-Roman philosophers dedicated their lives to perfecting their reasoning skills and encouraged those around them to do the same. Contradictory to reason, faith is the

After reading the first part of Anna Karenina, Sophia Andreevna, Tolstoy’s wife, had said to him, “Levin is you, Lyova, minus the talent… Levin is an impossible man!” Due to multiple similarities in the character of Levin and Tolstoy, he is often considered as his most complete self-portrait. The social position, the passion for hunting, the love of Russian peasantry, the ideas and opinions of Tolstoy, all find a reflection in the character of Levin. He is also shown using Tolstoy’s method of criticism by “feigned comprehension” to matters like elections, government bureaucracy and even the latest fashion in music. Levin’s estate reproduces Tostoy’s Yasnaya Polyana, and his marriage to Kitty duplicates Tolstoy’s marriage to Sophia in closest of its details. The death of Levin’s brother Nikolai is drawn from the death of Tolstoy’s own brother Nikolai. But the most significant is