The influential twentieth-century Christian theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich presents his view of religion as being “ultimate concern.” He writes that,

“Religion, in the largest and most basic sense of the word, is ultimate concern. And ultimate concern is manifest in all creative functions of the human spirit” (1).

Every person has some concern that is of ultimate or infinite importance. It is where all of one’s actions, feelings, and attitudes are aimed. No human being is without some ultimate concern, and this means that anything could potentially become a person’s god. Money, success, sex, fame, justice, power, achievements, nationalism, and more can become gods of ultimate concern. As Tillich states, “whatever concerns a man ultimately becomes god for him” (2).

Formations and objects like places, persons, objects, nations, churches, political parties, and social groups are expressions of ultimate concern, and all therefore contain a religious dimension. It is impossible, according to Tillich, for people not to therefore be religious.

“For Tillich, to be religious is to have an ultimate concern. If there is something about which you deeply and truly care, then you are religious, you have a religion. An atheist might say, “I do not believe in God.” But Tillich would say that this is virtually impossible, for a genuine atheist would have to be someone who does not believe that there is anything that is worth caring about deeply. Anyone who has an “ultimate concern” believes in God… Even the atheist who is ultimately concerned about something, Tillich claims, can be said to believe in God” (3).

There are various ways Tillich articulates this concept. For example, it is one’s concern about the meaning of life that becomes “manifest in the realm of knowledge as the passionate longing for ultimate reality.” It is also manifest in the “aesthetic function of the human spirit as the infinite desire to express ultimate meaning.”

The ultimate concern is overwhelmingly real and valuable. It is experienced as numinous or holy, distinct from all profane and ordinary realities. Tillich points to the Torah for an example drawn from the Hebrew Bible:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). This is what ultimate concern means and from these words the term ‘ultimate concern’ is derived. They state unambiguously the character of genuine faith, the demand of total surrender to the subject of ultimate concern” (4).

Here faith is ultimately and unconditionally concerned about Yahweh and about what he represents in demand, threat, and promise. Yahweh is the ultimate concern for every pious Jew and demands total surrender.

Tillich believes that anything, especially finite things, that is ascribed the status of ultimate concern is elevated to the status of God and therefore becomes idolatrous. Such things are the affirmation of something which is not ultimate as the Ultimate.

Although many scholars are hesitant to accept Tillich’s definition of religion, ultimate concern does seem to be a distinctive feature of the attitudes of members of religious traditions. For the devout, their object(s) of faith (God, gods, sacred scriptures, and/or founders) are for them often maximally great. The object is considered so perfect that nothing greater is conceivable. Tillich’s concept captures a real feature of religious faith for billions of believers.

References

1. Tillich, Paul. 1964. Theology of Culture. London: Oxford University Press. p. 6-7.
2. Tillich, Paul. Systematic Theology, 3 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 234.
3. Velasquez, Manuel. 2013. Philosophy: A Text with Readings. Boston: Cengage Learning. p. 282-283.
4. Tillich, Paul. 1956. Dynamics of Faith. p. 2-3.