What is true is that in all these despairing and strained…
““What is true is that in all these despairing and strained efforts to believe, what we really wanted was not to believe. That is, we didn’t want that which is the first requirement of faith, namely, to surrender ourselves totally, not to think of ourselves anymore, to extinguish completely our need for recognition and recognize God alone, to put our trust and dare to believe in God alone. We would surrender what was uncomfortable to us, but not that which we cared about! To have faith means to trust and to dare unconditionally, and that we didn’t want; we wanted to set conditions, and thereby we missed the whole point, and our whole effort was not genuine. We did not want to believe. If””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Faith requires total surrender and trusting God without conditions; we often seek comfort over genuine belief.
In simple terms: Faith is trusting God fully, without self‑interest.
Key Takeaway
Let go of personal conditions to truly trust.
Themes
faith
trust
surrender
authenticity
Mood
reflective
serious
Type
theological
philosophical
When to use this quote
- personal crisis
- spiritual formation
- ethical decision‑making
- leadership under oppression
Key Concepts
theology
existentialism
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- What conditions do you place on your trust?
- How can you practice unconditional belief?
A Different Perspective
Human desire for security can block true faith.