This article deals with the fundamental changes that happened to become real within the first three centuries of Christianity and turned the self-description of Christianity as a Messianic movement and community incon...This article deals with the fundamental changes that happened to become real within the first three centuries of Christianity and turned the self-description of Christianity as a Messianic movement and community inconsistent. The main reason, as I argue, was because the Messianic confessions and expectations witnessed by early Jewish-Christian writings such as Paul＇s letters （esp. to the Romans） and the so-called Didache, a rule of a Jewish-Christian community, did not come true, since time went on, the Messiah did not reappear and, most of all, the Roman Empire remained solid. This gave way to a fundamental change caused by two historical developments and their theological effects： the slow, but steady slide of Messianic hopes as times went on and the Messiah Jesus did not reappear or change history; and the development of pagan-Christian communities approaching Jesus by the means of pagan interpretations of Jesus Christ. Eventually, these pagan interpretations made it in the 4th cent. to set up a creed that did not only suspend anything Messianic in respect of Jesus, but replace these Christian-Jewish ideas and hopes by declaring Jesus being God-man. This declaration was the end of any real Messianic hope and the end of the Jewish Jesus for many centuries. Christianity has lost its Messiah and was turned into a dogmatic religion. Facing this development it is evident that Christianity has to exceed its own dogmatic limits in respect of Jesus.展开更多
Starting in 1920,the German theologian Paul Tillich said that his theology was one of the kairos.In the Greek New Testament,this word refers to the propitious moment for the arrival of the Messiah.Throughout his long ...Starting in 1920,the German theologian Paul Tillich said that his theology was one of the kairos.In the Greek New Testament,this word refers to the propitious moment for the arrival of the Messiah.Throughout his long career,Tillich hoped to find someone whom he could designate as being the Messiah.Seven months before he died in 1965,a young man entered his life and he was convinced that he had found the one for whom he had been waiting.His identity is revealed in this article.展开更多
Paul Tillich once confided to his secretary at Harvard that he was a schizophrenic. In this article, the author, who is also a schizophrenic, discusses symptoms of schizophrenia in Tillich＇s biography and theology. T...Paul Tillich once confided to his secretary at Harvard that he was a schizophrenic. In this article, the author, who is also a schizophrenic, discusses symptoms of schizophrenia in Tillich＇s biography and theology. Tillich had always insisted that his theology was one of the kairos. By hiding his theological thought behind an arcane Greek word, Tillich dissimulated his own messiah complex. On several occasions, Tillich describes a mystical schizophrenic hallucination with such accuracy that it is obvious to those who have had similar visions that he was speaking from personal experience. This article raises unanswerable questions about the relationships between religious revelation, mystical ecstasy and schizophrenia.展开更多
文摘This article deals with the fundamental changes that happened to become real within the first three centuries of Christianity and turned the self-description of Christianity as a Messianic movement and community inconsistent. The main reason, as I argue, was because the Messianic confessions and expectations witnessed by early Jewish-Christian writings such as Paul＇s letters （esp. to the Romans） and the so-called Didache, a rule of a Jewish-Christian community, did not come true, since time went on, the Messiah did not reappear and, most of all, the Roman Empire remained solid. This gave way to a fundamental change caused by two historical developments and their theological effects： the slow, but steady slide of Messianic hopes as times went on and the Messiah Jesus did not reappear or change history; and the development of pagan-Christian communities approaching Jesus by the means of pagan interpretations of Jesus Christ. Eventually, these pagan interpretations made it in the 4th cent. to set up a creed that did not only suspend anything Messianic in respect of Jesus, but replace these Christian-Jewish ideas and hopes by declaring Jesus being God-man. This declaration was the end of any real Messianic hope and the end of the Jewish Jesus for many centuries. Christianity has lost its Messiah and was turned into a dogmatic religion. Facing this development it is evident that Christianity has to exceed its own dogmatic limits in respect of Jesus.
文摘Starting in 1920,the German theologian Paul Tillich said that his theology was one of the kairos.In the Greek New Testament,this word refers to the propitious moment for the arrival of the Messiah.Throughout his long career,Tillich hoped to find someone whom he could designate as being the Messiah.Seven months before he died in 1965,a young man entered his life and he was convinced that he had found the one for whom he had been waiting.His identity is revealed in this article.
文摘Paul Tillich once confided to his secretary at Harvard that he was a schizophrenic. In this article, the author, who is also a schizophrenic, discusses symptoms of schizophrenia in Tillich＇s biography and theology. Tillich had always insisted that his theology was one of the kairos. By hiding his theological thought behind an arcane Greek word, Tillich dissimulated his own messiah complex. On several occasions, Tillich describes a mystical schizophrenic hallucination with such accuracy that it is obvious to those who have had similar visions that he was speaking from personal experience. This article raises unanswerable questions about the relationships between religious revelation, mystical ecstasy and schizophrenia.
