Facs
Transcript
happened in a moment of intuition, in a moment in which something happened to a mind, two or more things suddenly came together; and that is the same thing with the great discoveries in science. But after this has been done, after the idea has, in an experience which has often been compared with inspiration, grasped a human mind, the fulfilment is a matter of complete rationality.arisen in moments of intuition, when something happens to the mind and two or more things suddenly come together. The same is true of great discoveries in science. Yet once this has occurred, once the idea has grasped the human mind in an experience often compared to inspiration, its fulfillment becomes a matter of complete rationality.
Out of this follows a third and religiously extremely important point, namely the possibility of perfecting every technical product indefinitely, the indefinite perfectibility of the technical creations. And out of this side of the rationality has arisen one idea which then (as ideas sometimes are: imperialistic, like men and nations) has conquered the whole human mind, namely the idea of progress. The idea of progress is born in the technical realm. The ancient world had no such idea, and it is possible only on the religious foundation of the ability of the world to be transformed. But in the moment in which you apply the idea of progress to other realms, then the idea becomes impossible. The catastrophe of the idea of progress, in those realms in which supporting techniques are applied—in politics, in education, except their technical part—are the reason for the breakdown of the idea of progress in our present world.From this aspect of rationality arose one idea that, as ideas sometimes do, became imperialistic, like men and nations, and conquered the whole human mind: the idea of progress. This idea was born in the technical realm. The ancient world had no such concept, and it is possible only on the religious foundation that the world can be transformed. However, the moment the idea of progress is applied to other realms, it becomes impossible to sustain. The catastrophe of the idea of progress in those realms where supporting techniques are applied, such as politics and education, except in their strictly technical aspects, explains the breakdown of the idea of progress in our present world.
I know that this is not an easy thing. When I came to this country 22 years ago and talked to my theological students in Union Theological Seminary, and told them that I don't believe in the idea of progress as a universal law of history, then these theologians, please, told me: “then you take all faith away from us!” That means: not God, not eternity, not salvation (or whatever the great religious symbols are) are that in which they believe, but progress! And this shows actually the character of Protestantism in that time.When I came to this country twenty-two years ago and spoke with my theological students at Union Theological Seminary, I told them that I did not believe in the idea of progress as a universal law of history. Their response was, “Then you take all faith away from us!” This means that what they believed in was not God, eternity, salvation, or any of the great religious symbols, but progress. This reveals something essential about the character of Protestantism at that time.
Now in the mean time, the progressivistic idea has broken down, and the very fact that this is the case is probably one of the reasons for the tremendous amount of emptiness, cynicism, skepticism, and even despair in many of the younger generation today, because all this is always the consequence of a metaphysical disappointment. And it was a real ultimate concern, what progress meant, and if such an ultimate concern is disappointed, then a gap of emptiness opens itself. Now what actually has happened here was the illusion that that which is possible in the technical realm, in the realmWhat actually happened here was an illusion: the assumption that what is possible in the technical realm