Tracy Early, Tillich & Barth
Tracy Early, noted religion journalist, dies at 71.
When I was reading the report about his life, the following section really captured me:
[My] own religious orientation seems to have more affinity for Tillich’s approach of living on the boundary between church and world, rather than Barth’s explicit evangelical commitment. But somehow I’ve wound up admiring Barth as a person much more. Barth at the end of his life was visiting prisoners and preaching the Gospel to them, while Tillich was shining with the Harvard intellectuals and taking pride in not going to church. I cannot quite see how a Christian theologian can say meeting with fellow Christians for prayer and praise and celebration of communion is optional.
And I think he is absolutely right. Just how many "intellectual" Christians who are so fond of criticizing the C/church and are so anti-institutional, understand this?