Tuesday, June 21, 2022

TURNING AWAY FROM GOD

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”  (Isaiah 53:6)

Augustine shows clearly the religious character of sin. Sin for him is not a moral failure; it is not even disobedience.  Disobedience is a consequence but not the cause. The cause is: turning away from God, and from God as the highest good, as the love with which God loves Himself through us. For this reason, since sin has this character -- if you say "sins", it is easily dissolved into moral sins; but sin is first of all basically the… turning away from God.  For this very reason, no moral remedy is possible.  Only one remedy is possible: return to God.  But this of course is possible only in the power of God.

-- Paul Tillich (1886-1965) in “A History of Christian Thought”


#5376

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for sharing your comments about a quote or about this ministry. Please include your name and what state or country you live in. If you do not have a registered profile, you can login using the "Anonymous" tag in the "Comment as:" box below.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.