Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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and, without reversal, his future.' Bultmann
demythologized heaven and hell. The afterlife does not
largely concern him, but Bultmann does see natural man in
a present desperate plight.
Preaching proclaims the possibility of crucifying
this 'sinful' self and rising again into a new realm of
authentic existence. There, in answer to the authority
of God, man can choose to be obedient to God's will, and,
in that choice, discover his true self. 9 As he
continues to choose God's way, he, ever afresh, finds
fulfullment.
What common denominator do all men share? Paul
Tillich answered that question by saying. "They all
participate in human existence." That statement
speaks no significant truth in itself until one
understands that, for Tillich. "The state of existence is
the state of estrangement. Man is estranged from the
ground of his being. from other beings. and from
himself.""
Man is the finite being aware of his own finitude,
and the infinitude which he struggles to achieve. This
constant struggle produces nothing but anxiety and guilt.
Preaching proclaims the possibility of the 'New
Being'. The preacher hopes that his hearers will know a
"new revelatory experience," 11 forsake their
idolatrous worship of the 'preliminary', and enter the
healing power of the 'New Being'. The person thus
transformed remains a finite person, but life, in its