Page History

...

To this extent, namely: that, as Bultmann himself often allows and as Niebuhr never questions, the perfection before the act, which is the real meaning of perfection before the fall, includes as much understanding of what it means, in general, to be an authentic human being as revelation itself makes explicit – -- in its "what," as distinct from its "that." Therefore, while this understanding may not become fully conscious in individual cases, it can become more or less fully conscious in religions and philosophies, depending upon how radically or profoundly they understand human existence, even as the individual person may also always become more or less fully conscious of it. Even so, since faith is no more a matter of accepting a general view of human existence, even a true one, or performing certain acts, even good ones, than sin is a matter of rejecting such a view or performing contrary acts, it is entirely possible to accept a general view and to perform the acts implied by it even while rejecting rather than accepting God's acceptance as the sole basis of one's existence. Indeed, the very fact of accepting such a view or of performing the acts it implies can itself become the basis for boasting.