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April 19, 2016
“The prophets prophesy falsely, and my people love to have it so”
No man with a prophetic spirit likes to foresee and foresay the doom of his own period.
It exposes him to a terrible anxiety within himself, to severe and often deadly attacks from others, and to the charge of pessimism and defeatism on the part of the majority of the people. Men desire to hear good tidings; and the masses listen to those who bring them. All the prophets of the Old and New Testaments, and others during the history of the Church, had the same experience. They all were contradicted by the false prophets, who announced salvation when there was no salvation. “The prophets prophesy falsely, and my people love to have it so”, cries Jeremiah in despair. They called him a defeatist and accused him of being an enemy of his country. But is it a sign of patriotism or of confidence in one’s people, its institutions and its way of life, to be silent when the foundations are shaking? Is the expression of optimism, whether or not it is justified, so much more valuable than the expression of truth, even if the truth is deep and dark? -- Paul Tillich, The Shaking of the Foundations.
Posted by gerardvanderleun at April 19, 2016 7:33 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.