Both the Old and the New Testaments describe our existence
in relation to God as one of waiting, The condition of our relation to God is
first of all one of not having, not seeing, not knowing, and not grasping. A religion in which that is forgotten, no
matter how ecstatic or active or reasonable, replaces God by its own creation
of an image of God. I am convinced that
much of the rebellion against Christianity is due to the overt or veiled claim
of the Christians to possess God, and therefore, also, to the loss of this
element of waiting, so decisive for the prophets and the apostles. They did not possess God; they waited for Him. For how can God be possessed? Is God a thing that can be grasped and known
among other things? Is God less than a
human person? Since God is infinitely
hidden, free, and incalculable, we must wait for Him in the most absolute
and radical way. He is God for us just in so far as we do not
possess Him. We are stronger when we
wait than when we possess. When we
possess God, we reduce God to that small thing we knew and grasped of God; and
we make it an idol.
Paul Tillich, The Shaking of the Foundations
