The Eternal Now (urspr publ 1963; utgåvan 1963)

Tillich was famous for, among other things, recasting the Christian faith in the language of the day. That day being the late 1950s/early 1960s, many of these sermons seem "dated." The 60's existentialism and the heavily male-dominated language are not terribly helpful for the reader today, IMHO. However, within a few of these sermons lurk gems of wisdom that were quite worth thinking about. His thoughts on the command, "You Shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" were especially helpful.

He acknowledges the difficulty of speaking about God in the modern world:
Everyone at one time or another finds himself in a situation where he must decide whether he shall use or avoid the name of God, whether he shall talk with personal involvement about religious matters, either for or against them.

And then there's this point, which acknowledges a subtle but popular use of God's name in vain:
There is a form of misuse of the name of God that offends those who hear it with a sensitive ear, just because it did not worry those who misused it without sensitivity. I speak now of a public use of the name of God which has little to do with God, but much to do with human purpose -- good or bad. Those of us who are grasped by the mystery present in the name of God are often stung when this name is used in governmental and political speeches, in opening prayers for conferences and dinners, in secular and religious advertisements, and in international war propaganda. (Bringing his line of thought about using God's name in vain into the present day, one might add usage where it is claimed that God is using a disaster or disease to "punish ______s" or when it's used in sentences such as "God hates ______s " -- fill in the blanks with any groups of people of which the speaker doesn't approve).

I was slow to get through this book. This was partly because the sermons with which I didn't resonate were a slog to get through; and because the ones in which I found some gem of wisdom took some time to fully think through. It's such a mixed bag, I've had a hard time giving it a rating. I'll probably go with a sort of middle-of-the-road 3 stars. ( )

Probes deeply into the human predicament and offers us God's eternal Presence.