Paul Tillich, recognized as one of the greatest 20th century theologians, maintained that all human thought is an expression of heteronomy, autonomy, or theonomy.
- Heteronomy is the imposition of a law or system upon a human from outside himself/herself. When a religion sets itself up to dictate belief and action, it is heteronomous. Such a religion ignores and destroys all creativity within the individual. Heteronomy often justifies itself by claiming to speak for God. In such a system, God is to be obeyed because He (and almost always the God of such a religion is a “He”) is God and thus more powerful than mere mortals.
All fundamentalism constitutes a danger to freedom, creativity, justice, compassion, joy, and community.
The last century demonstrated that atheistic systems like Nazism, the Soviet Union and Communist China can also be heteronomous even though they profess no faith in God. What we are referring to is a type of fundamentalism which can be religious or secular. All fundamentalism constitutes a danger to freedom, creativity, justice, compassion, joy, and community.
In all types of heteronomy, a powerful minority claims to know what is best for everyone else. Over time, these powerful minorities accrue wealth, status, and clout which they enjoy at the expense of the rights and dignity of those they seek to control. One of their mottos is, “Ends justify means.” It never occurs to them that, as Mahatma Gandhi taught us, means and ends are all the same.
- When people have had their fill of heteronomy, they rebel and choose autonomy, the rule of self by the self. The individual lives by the laws and systems he or she makes. Such selves become the captains of their fates and the masters of their souls. They are answerable to no one but themselves. Love, at best, becomes restricted to those who share their vision. There is little opportunity to practice empathy and compassion since both are dependent on being within community. And the ability to listen deeply and objectively fades into oblivion. The guillotine is a symbol from the French Revolution of what happens when heteronomy gives way to autonomy. However, almost immediately, French autonomy morphed into a different type of heteronomy which murdered anyone who did not embrace the current dictates of this violent “age of reason” which has been called the Reign of Terror.
The major problem with autonomy is that it cannot satisfy the deepest needs of humanity.
The major problem with autonomy is that it cannot satisfy the deepest needs of humanity. Self-centered autonomy leaves its adherents without cohesion, depth, and grounding. Ultimately, it is a lonely route which has lost any sense of nurturing community and vital connections. French modern literature, with its nihilistic existentialism, exposes the tragic and shallow nature of unbridled autonomy.
- Theonomy rejects both heteronomy and autonomy. It believes that the superior law, rooted in God, is also the innermost law of humankind. What God requires of us is precisely what we need to be whole. In obeying God, we do not destroy ourselves as we would in heteronomy and autonomy. We fulfill ourselves. We obey not because God has more power than we do but because God, as love, desires personal and universal healing and redemptive relations among all parts of creation. For example, the ethic of Jesus was not based on the idea that we must live a certain way because God demands it. We are to live lives of compassion and truth in emulation of God who is ultimate compassion and truth. Jesus’ ethic was a mature ethic. We join God in mirroring God’s eternal nature and essence. Together with God, we create a community of radical love and goodness.
The problem with theonomy is that it is so fragile and vulnerable.
The problem with theonomy is that it is so fragile and vulnerable. It’s like a beautiful garden that must be tended on a faithful and intentional basis. Authentic theonomy must be constantly renewed. Theonomy has no grandchildren. It is not so much inherited as embraced and experienced afresh with each generation and with each individual. Without this vigilant dedication and nurturing, the depths upon which theonomy is based can be easily neglected and lost. Once this happens, it’s only a matter of time before theonomy becomes heteronomy. There will always be some people who are eager to turn theonomy into theocracy (which is a virulent form of heteronomy). False prophets will emerge in the vacuum created once the relational and deep foundation of theonomy is forgotten or distorted. Nothing frightens those inclined to rigid authority more than freedom, creativity, empathy, and community—all of which are necessary components of authentic theonomy.
Tillich suggested that history reveals when each of these three forms of thinking has dominated a particular age.
Tillich suggested that history reveals when each of these three forms of thinking has dominated a particular age. Early Middle Ages and the early Reformation period could be seen as times of theonomy. Late Middle Ages and the latter period of the Reformation tended toward uncompromising and rigid heteronomy. (Note how heteronomy follows theonomy as the truth of original visions was lost or distorted.) The Renaissance and Rationalism can be seen as eras of autonomy. (Note how autonomy follows heteronomy.) One could interpret all of church history as a movement from autonomy to heteronomy to theonomy beginning with the Kingdom of God theonomy of Jesus and the early church to the abandoning of that original vision as the genie was put back in the bottle and replaced with heteronomy to the self-centered and hedonistic periods of the church seen in corrupt popes and many modern-day televangelists. (Autonomy and heteronomy can occur at the same time when those in power who dictate the system of heteronomy for others embrace a type of self-centered and self-serving autonomy for themselves. Also, we should note that all through the history of the church, even in its most degrading moments, there have been faithful remnants of theonomy serving as God’s witnesses to truth and love.)
Here are some questions we may want to consider in light of Tillich’s analysis of human thinking:
- Where do we see heteronomy today? Autonomy? Theonomy?
- What are the consequences of each in our world?
- As followers of Jesus, how can we keep theonomy from becoming heteronomy or theocracy? In what ways must we remain vigilant and committed to the way, the truth, and the life of Jesus in a time when both heteronomy and autonomy threaten the common good and the abundant life God wills for all of Her people?
- As Protestants we are to “protest” against anything which seeks to take the place of God (institutions, principalities and powers, church, bibliolatry, doctrine, greed, “isms”, etc.) To be faithful to our ultimate concern (God), we must exist as an alternative to all forms of heteronomy and self-centered autonomy. Where have Protestants been true to this vocation? Where have we failed? What kind of alternative are we living in our time and space?
