Journal of Religion and Health, Vol. 28, No. 1, Spring 1989

A Sermon from Hell: Toward a Theo logy of Lonel iness

WILLIAM E. COLLINS

ABSTRACT: Loneliness as part of the human condition is first explored from an experiential- philosophical perspective. A biblical survey suggests loneliness is normative to the faith experi- ence and may portray a more "realistic" religiosity. Desert imagery in Scripture indicates a strong association among solitude, spiritual development, and potential dangers of spiritual de- ception. God's "not yet-ness"-- i tself a cause of existential loneliness--is paradoxically the way in which communion with God functions in the here and now. The creative use of solitude may enhance social, psychological, and spiritual well-being, and provide a way to theologize about personal isolation and disorientation.

To understand the depths of human loneliness, you must first go to hell. To paraphrase Jeffrey Sobosan, 1 hell is a place of zero communication. Though you may try to get some attention, no one gives you even passing notice. Ev- erybody in hell is alone. There is absolutely no affection, caring, or under- standing from anyone.

Sobosan describes hell as the state of not being accepted. It is not, however, so much tha t you are actively rejected in hatred or scorn but that you are treated with apathy and indifference-- the worst sort of rejection. 2

The torment of hell, then, is the torment of loneliness and isolation. In Dante's hell, the lowest level is reserved for those who kept themselves from feeling any warmth or affection on earth. Their punishment is not fire, but a tomb of ice. While they can see one another, they are totally unable to touch or communicate. Condemned to an unending separation, they will never again experience any human warmth or kindness2

Existensial loneliness. In many ways, the lonely isolation of hell is a pro- jective metaphor of human existence. To some degree, we have all experi- enced the hell of loneliness, not because we necessarily deserve it but because it is part of our basic human condition.

The Reverend William E. Collins, M.Div., F.C.C., A.T.R. is Mental Health Chaplain at Hard- ing Hospital in Worthington, Ohio. He is also editor of the Harding Journal of Religion and Psychiatry.

70 �9 1989 Institutes of Religion and Health

William E. Collins 71

Joseph Conrad speaks of our t r emendous isolation, an isolation tha t is t r a n s p a r e n t bu t cannot be p e n e t r a t e d - - a n elusive, ever las t ing, indestruct i - ble loneliness " tha t surrounds , envelops and clothes every h u m a n soul from the cradle to the grave . . . . ,,4

We are born alone, and we m u s t live alone. Perhaps Thomas Wolfe best ex- pressed this sober t r u t h in Look Homeward, Angel. In tha t powerful passage where the m a i n character , Eugene Gant , first confronts his basic aloneness, we recognize t h a t Wolfe is speaking about us all:

And left alone to sleep within a shuttered room, with the thick sunlight printed in bars upon the floor, unfathomable loneliness and sadness crept through him: he saw his life down the solemn vista of a forest glade, and he knew he would al- ways be the sad one: caged in that little round skull, imprisoned in that beating and most secret heart, his life must always walk down lonely passages. Lost. He understood that men were forever strangers to one another, that no one ever comes really to know any one, that imprisoned in the dark womb of our mother, we come to life without having seen her face, that we are given to her arms a stranger, and that, caught in the insoluble prison of being, we escape it never, no matter what arms may clasp us, what mouth may kiss us, what heart may warm us. Never, never, never, never, never?

And then there is the loneliness of guilt. Paul Tillich writes:

Nobody can take from us what we have done against our true being. We cannot make anybody else responsible for what has happened through us. We cannot run away from our guilt: we cannot honestly cover it up. We are alone with it; and it is this loneliness which permeates all other forms of loneliness, trans- forming them into experiences of judgment2

Fu r the rmore , we all mus t die alone. Tillich speaks of the loneliness in which we have to die:

"We remain alone in the anticipation of our death. No communication with oth- ers can remove this loneliness, as no presence of others in the actual hour of our dying can hide the fact that it is our death, and our death alone, that we die. In the hour of death we are cut off from the whole universe and everything in it. We are deprived of all t h i n g s . . , in which we forgot our being alone. Who can stand this loneliness? ''7

The courage to despair. It is not surpr is ing tha t most of us find ways to avoid confront ing or feeling the f r igh ten ing rea l i ty of our existent ial loneli- ness. Only a few brave melanchol ic souls have had the courage to feel such despair, and we often re legate t h e m to psychopathic wards or o ther such in- s t i tut ions. E rnes t Becker had the courage to confront us wi th the rea l i ty of our denial. He wri tes of the fut i l i ty and exis tent ia l loneliness of life:

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A person spends years coming into his own, developing his talent, his unique gifts, perfecting his discriminations about the world, broadening and sharpening his appetite, learning to bear the disappointments of life, becoming mature, seasoned--finally a unique creature in nature, standing with some dignity and nobility and transcending the animal condition; no longer driven, no longer a complete reflex, not stamped out of any mold. And then the real tragedy, as Andr~ Malraux wrote in The Human Condition: that it takes sixty years of in- credible suffering and effort to make such an individual, and then he is good only for death. 8

Loneliness and solitude in scripture

The Judeo-Chr i s t i an he r i t age abounds wi th examples of s imilar courage. Job speaks of the devas ta t ing lonel iness t h a t often accompanies a life- t h r e a t e n i n g illness:

He has put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintances are wholly es- tranged from me. My kinsfolk and my close friends have failed me; the guests in my house have forgotten me; my maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become an alien in their eyes. I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must beseech him with my mouth. I am repulsive to my wife, loathsome to the sons of my own mother. Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me. All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me (Job 19:13-19).

The Psa lms are full of lonely complaints: "How long, O Lord? Will you for- get me forever? How long will you hide your face f rom me? How long mus t I wres t le wi th my though t s and every day have sorrow in my hear t?" (Psalm 13:1,2).

The prophet ic l i t e r a tu re has numerous s imi lar passages: J e r e m i a h says: "I sat a lone because your hand was upon me . . . . W h y is my pain unend ing and my wound gr ievous and incurable?" ( J e r emiah 15:17-18) .

And one of the most pa infu l cries of ex is ten t ia l loneliness was expressed dur ing an unforge t t ab le crucifixion: "My God, m y God, why have you for- saken me?" (Mat thew 27:46).

W h a t all these biblical passages suggest is t h a t lonel iness is not only a pa r t of our basic h u m a n condition; it is even a normal pa r t of the fa i th expe- r ience. So-called "nega t ive" emotions such as doubt, fear, anger , and loneli- ness were all felt and expressed by even the most fa i thful Bible characters , and even by Chr is t himself .

Psalms of disorientation. There are two more passages, however , t h a t most in tense ly convey the devas ta t ion of ex is ten t ia l loneliness. Psa lms 39 and 88 do not end wi th a posi t ive a f f i rmat ion of fa i th bu t emphas ize the psalmist ' s to ta l sense of isolat ion and loneliness.

William E. Collins 73

Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life . . . . Each man's life is but a breath . . . . Be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were. Look away from me, that I may rejoice again before I depart and be no more (Psalm 39:4, 5, 12, 13).

And i f P s a l m 39 is not despa i r ing enough, l i s ten to P s a l m 88:

You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. You have taken me from my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you . . . . Why, O Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me? From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered your terrors and am in despair. Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me. All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me. You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend (Psalm 88:6-9, 14, 18).

These two cr ies of l a m e n t a re exam p l e s of w h a t W a l t e r B r u e g g e m a n n has cal led the P s a l m s of disor ienta t ion . 9 In con t ra s t to the P s a l m s of or ien ta t ion , wh ich emphas i ze the posi t ive, "up side" of fa i th , focusing on p romises ful- filled and b less ings bes towed, P s a l m s of d i so r i en ta t ion focus on the "down side" of l i f e - - a n d , as such, a re an " e m b a r r a s s m e n t to convent iona l fai th. ''1~

Such P s a l m s do not s p e a k of God's n e a r n e s s and protec t ion bu t of his ab- sence and s e e m i n g indifference. P s a l m s of d i so r i en ta t ion speak abou t life as a w h o l e - - n o t j u s t abou t the "good par t s . " They speak of the fact t h a t we l ive in a wor ld w h e r e life is wel l -or ien ted only for some (and often a t the expense of others) . T h e y s p e a k of the fact t h a t t he r e a re often no answer s to life 's ques- t ions, t h a t f r equen t ly t he r e is no exp l ana t i on for pain, i sola t ion and loneli- ness, and t h a t our lonely cries to God often seem u n h e a r d or unnot iced2 ~

P s a l m s 39 and 88 do not offer theological exp lana t ions of loneliness. They s imp ly s t a t e w h a t it is l ike to exper ience God's inexpl icable absence. Brueg- g e m a n n comment s :

We may imagine that the situation is so desperate that even if a "reason" could be offered, the speaker would have no interest in it, nor would it help, because the needfulness of the moment supersedes any reasonable conversation. The unanswered plea does not silence the speaker. Perhaps [he] is in fact speaking to the empty sky, but that does not deter [him]. The faith of Israel is like that. The failure of God to respond does not lead to atheism or doubt in God or rejection of God. It leads to more intense address. (emphasis mine) TM

The P s a l m s of d i sor ien ta t ion , says B r u e g g e m a n n , ce r t a in ly go aga in s t " eve ry theo logy of glory, a g a i n s t eve ry theo logy t h a t imag ine s t h a t t h ings can be resolved, t h a t t he r e a re answers , and t h a t we go f rom ' s t r e n g t h to

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strength. ' [Such psalms] show us what the cross is about: faithfulness in scenes of complete abandonment."13

Biblical metaphors of solitude. While loneliness may be experienced as abandonment, solitude is experienced as dialogue. Solitude offers both self- discovery and spiritual opportunity. Solitude is a journey into the private world of one's own soul to dialogue with the still, small voice of God. In other words, the journey into solitude is a religious pilgrimage.

Alfred North Whitehead has called solitude the essence of religion, even stating that religion is what one does with one's solitariness. When left alone to ourselves, without others around us to please and to serve, who are we? What do we really think, feel and desire? On what or whom do we truly place our trust, affection, and devotion? For where our t reasure is, there will be our solitude also (Matthew 6:21).

Solitude is not easy. It brings psycho-spiritual conflict that can be decep- tively dangerous. Tillich once said the first thing that happens in our soli- tude is that we meet ourselves on the battlefield of creation and destruction, of God and demons. TM

As we turn to the biblical record, we find that this conflict between cre- ation and destruction, God and demons, often takes place in the lonely soli- tude of the desert.

Both Old and New Testaments see the desert as a place where God reveals himself, where demons reside and spiritual conflict takes place. 1~

In the Bible numerous theophanies occur in the lonely isolation of the des- ert. In the desert, an angel strengthens Elijah with nourishment after his flight from Jezebel (1 Kings 19:4-6). It was in the desert cave at Horeb that Elijah hears the "still small voice" of God redirecting him toward a new mis- sion (1 Kings 19:8-18). And it was in the wilderness of Horeb that God con- fronts Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:1, 2). Likewise, the giving of the law on Mount Sinai was a desert theophany (Exodus 19).

The hope of eschatological salvation is first proclaimed in the desert: "A voice of one calling: 'In the desert prepare the way of the Lord . . . . "' (Isaiah 40:3). The desert is a place of spiritual nurturance, for there Christ feeds his followers (Matthew 14:13). While the desert in the New Testament seems to be more of a demonic place, it is still a favorite place for prayer and fasting (Luke 4:1, 4:42; 5:16) as well as for visions (Revelation 17:3; Acts 8:26).

Yet the desert is also a place of danger, of separation from God, and of de- monic powers (Deuteronomy 8:15; Numbers 21:4-9; Isaiah 30:6). Yahweh's terrifying east wind comes out of the desert (Hosea 13:15). The scapegoat is chased into the desert to the demon Azazel (Leviticus 16:10, 21). It is in the desert that Jesus encounters spiritual deception and satanic temptation (Matthew 4:1-11).

What all this desert imagery suggests is that light and darkness, good and evil, God and the devil, loneliness and communion, are encountered most dramatically in the wilderness of solitude.

Will iam E. Collins 75

In solitude we may discover God's presence. But we also become aware of the dark side of the soul. We encounter and do battle with spiritual decep- tion, as Christ did in his wilderness temptation.

In solitude we may even be fooled by subjective "spiritual imaginations." Like a desert mirage, our religious solitude may be only illusion, having no substance. Our faith could turn out to be nothing more than a narcissistic wish fulfillment which leads nowhere.

Yes, solitude is a deceptively scary and lonely place, even as the desert is dangerous to those who are not prepared for it. Much like the desert, solitude is first experienced as desolation, as absence and separation from God. We are tempted to doubt God and wander off into our own spiritual subjectivity, as did the Israelites in their wilderness experience.

Already but not yet. In the desert of our loneliness we must eventually dis- cover God's "not-yetness." Indeed, the whole Judeo-Christian faith is built upon the promise of a God not yet come. For Jews, the first advent is still an- ticipated, while Christians wait for Christ's second coming. The religion of the Bible is a lonely re l igion--while we experience some of the reality of di- vine grace, we still "groan inwardly" as we wait for the coming kingdom of God where loss, decay, pain, isolation, and death will be no mere (Romans 8:18-25). God's "already" is a lonely reminder of his "not yet."

Christ ianity is basically a religion of an absent God. Yet God's absence paradoxically becomes the basis of hope. When the world is collapsing around us, we have only ourselves and God to hold on to. The extremity of our situa- tion forces us to address God in a more intensely solitary way than in times of relative prosperity and security. Like Jacob at Peniel, we may encounter God only as a stranger (Genesis 32:22-31). Like Job in his suffering, we may respond to God's absence with anger, hurt, pain, and doubt. Such a response could lead to a loss of faith, or perhaps to spiritual discovery--a serendipi- tous, divine revelation which comes not as full disclosure but as a fleeting glimpse of God's presence yet to come.

The security of paradise seems far removed from our lonely vigil of faith. Adam before the fall was so surrounded by God's presence in paradise he was hardly aware of it, says Elie Wiesel."Nor did he think of [God's presence]; he didn't need to, for the very source and cradle of his mind were occupied by God. One pictures his life as drab, devoid of expectation, of stimulation." 1~

It was not until Adam's separation from God tha t he fully realized the true impact of God's being with him. In this sense we do not experience God in his coming to us but in his departure and in our expectation of his return. Our "God loneliness" may evoke mere spiritual soul-searching than those times in which we sense God's nearness.

Moses had a similar experience when he asked to see God's glory on the mountainside. He wanted to see God's face and settle all his doubts and ques- tions about this mysterious Being tha t had led him into the desert. But God refused, probably for several reasons. First of all, God's reality would

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have surely overwhelmed Moses - -human beings cannot bear very much re- ality.

Second, perhaps God was thinking about the rest of us who struggle all our lives to mainta in faith amid the brokenness, the confusion, and the unfair- ness of life. In contrast to Moses, perhaps God was thinking of us poor souls who have not been so privileged to see the "upper side of the carpet," as Hans KQng describes it. 17

Whatever the reason, God only showed Moses his back side as he departed from him. And so - -wi th a little twist of i rony- - i t was only in God's depar- ture tha t Moses was allowed to experience his presence.

Perhaps this means we must look where God has already been in our lives in order to encounter him in the present moment. As we search for his foot- prints in our life experience, perhaps at the very place where we thought him absent, there we find his steps. As with ancient Israel in the wilderness, the "God with us" often appears at our darkest hour and most desolating, lonely moment.

Loneliness, solitude, and spiritual growth

I believe loneliness is a spiritual experience. The discovery of our lonely iso- lation and separateness in this world will inevitably lead us to take some stand toward God--moving us toward either unbelief or faith.

Pathological loneliness. Loneliness can propel us out into the world in faith, or it can encapsulate us in a pathological cocoon of self-pity and self-imposed isolation. Pathological loneliness is related to what S~ren Kierkegaard called "shut-upness" and Ernest Becker called "the characterological lie." Both these terms speak of our natural tendency to close ourselves off from reality. We simply cannot handle very much awe, wonder, intimacy, raw emotion, self-knowledge, or change- -even when it is beneficial to us.

We have what Abraham Maslow once called the "Jonah syndrome." Becket calls it the "fear of being torn apart, of losing control, of being shattered and disintegrated, even of being k i l l e d . . . [by] the full intensity of life."18

The full intensity of life confronts us with ourselves. It forces us to face our emotions, impulses, memories, capacities, and potentialities, from which we run as Jonah did. Freud's greatest contribution, says Maslow, was his obser- vation tha t our fear of self-discovery lies at the root of all psychodynamics and is the cause of much of our pathology. 19

The "Jonah Syndrome" in its extreme form may lead to pathological lone- l i n e s s - a n intentional avoidance of self-discovery, a denial of reality, where the individual becomes the agent of his or her own self-repression and iso- lation. 2~

Pathological loneliness is not a catalyst of hope but a denial of hope. It is a "shrinking back" from l i f e - - a refusal to reach out, risk, feel, or grow.

William E. Collins 77

A str iking biblical example of pathological loneliness can be found in Lot's wife, whose loneliness for her Sodom home and her refusal to accept the lonely uncer ta in ty of change turned her into a rigid pillar of salt. Fossilized in the past, she becomes quite l i terally a concrete metaphor of her own psy- chological "shut-upness." She is unwilling to face herself, unable to experi- ence self-actualization or community, afraid to encounter the full intensity of life in the decisive moment of deliverance, and as a result shrinks back from the potential i ty of the future.

Creative solitude. Loneliness does not have to be pathological. It can be lived with in a positive, constructive way. It can even become a source of c rea t iv i ty - - someth ing that poets, artists, and musicians have known for cen- turies. Carl Sandburg once said tha t loneliness is an essential part of life and sometimes must be sought out: "One of the big jobs a person has is to learn how to live with loneliness. Too many persons allow loneliness to take them over. It is necessary to have within oneself the ability to use loneliness."21

Our ability to use loneliness increases as we become more comfortable with the challenge of being alone, as we learn how to break out of our "shut- upness," as we are no longer afraid to face the facts about ourselves, as we are willing to experience the full intensi ty of life, and as we learn how to be creative with our loneliness.

Some people live with loneliness by finding solitude in a meaningful pur- suit or goal; and yet meaningful productivity may still be a way of avoiding the painful confrontation of our own emptiness. Joseph Hartog observes:

Highly motivated hermits, martyrs, scientists, artists, and explorers usually handle their loneliness better than the abandoned, deserted, widowed, and di- vorced because their lonely experience has meaning (it is usually self-imposed). But the scientist, artist, and explorer . . , fail to cope with the loneliness of their lives when they are no longer productive. Their productiveness, therefore, is crucial to their personal sense of meaning and provides an insulation against loneliness. ~2

Our over-emphasis on productivity is probably why true solitude is so rare ly experienced in our culture. If we have to stay busy when we find our- selves alone, we may be fighting our lonel iness- -something tha t t rue soli- tude allows us to befriend. On this point, Henri Nouwen gives us a striking tableau of how difficult it is to be alone:

Too often we will do everything possible to avoid the confrontation.. , of being alone, and sometimes we are able to create the most ingenious devices to pre- vent ourselves from being reminded of this condition. Our culture has become most sophisticated in the avoidance of pain, not only our physical pain but our emotional and mental pain as well. We not only bury our dead as if they were still alive, we also bury our pains as if they were not really there. We have be- come so used to this anesthesia, that we panic when there is nothing or nobody

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to distract us. When we have no project to finish, no friend to visit, no book to read, no television to watch or no record to play, and when we are left all alone by ourselves we are brought so close to the revelation of our basic human alone- ness and are so afraid of experiencing an all-pervasive sense of loneliness that we will do anything to get busy again and continue the game which makes us believe that everything is fine after all. ~3

Crea t i ve sol i tude requ i res t h a t we l i s ten t o - - n o t r u n f r o m - - w h a t our lonely feel ings a re t e l l ing us. Are we out of touch wi th ourselves , w i th others , w i th a m e a n i n g f u l life purpose , or wi th God? Are we af ra id of sol i tude and w h a t it m i g h t r evea l abou t our emot ions , impulses , memor ies , capaci t ies , and pe r sona l goals? Are we afraid, l ike J o n a h , to be a lone wi th ourse lves?

Crea t i ve sol i tude is v i ta l to our social, psychological , and sp i r i tua l well- being. C rea t i ve sol i tude can lead to hea l th ie r , m o r e m a t u r e re la t ionsh ips wi th others , add depth, focus, and "cen te redness" to our personal i t ies , and he lp us to encoun te r a more rea l i s t ic expe r i en t i a l grace. J o h n L a n d g r a f wr i tes of these benefi ts :

To be alone and to master that aloneness is an enormous task. It is the task of learning to know yourself, love yourself, have mercy on your self, be kind and gentle with yourself, laugh at yourself, forgive yourself, unsentimentalize your view of yourself, and be more and more self-supporting. In short, it is learning how to be your own best friend. One can be well-married to onese l f . . , unless at some time and in some place in our lives we are alone, and experience that aloneness (and loneliness) for what it is, unless we learn to be creative with it, and integrative with it, we humans have relatively little to bring to other per- sons . . . . Instead all we bring them is our own needs, demands, passions, fears, jealousies and well-intentioned but conflicted gestures . . . [we become] needy persons who treat [ourselves] like refuse while imploring others to treat [us] like diamonds. 24

Spiritual loneliness--an opportunity for personal theologizing. Yet, as hu- m a n re l a t ionsh ips canno t bea r cons tan t in t imacy , so does our r e l a t ionsh ip w i th God wax and wane. In the s e p a r a t e n e s s of our exis tence we often experi- ence more "God lonel iness" t h a n "God wi th us." Our u n a n s w e r e d p rayers , says Sobosan, m a y induce a s t a t e of sp i r i tua l loneliness. C o m m u n i c a t i o n seems to b r e a k down be t ween us and God. Our p r a y e r s seem to be e i the r un- h e a r d or mi sunde r s tood by God. 2~

Pe rhaps , in a m o m e n t of life and dea th , as Sobosan observes , we p r a y for t he recovery of a loved one, bu t t h a t ind iv idua l worsens or dies. We p r a y for re l i e f f rom and u n d e r s t a n d i n g of u n e x p l a i n a b l e suffer ing, bu t i t r e m a i n s un re l i eved and unexp la ined . We p r a y for success in some task , bu t we fail. We p r a y to fal l in love, bu t we do not. We p r a y for reso lu t ion of m a r i t a l con- flict, bu t divorce seems inevi table . We p r a y for sereni ty , forgiveness , and hu- mi l i ty , bu t we r e m a i n anxious , worr ied, resent fu l , and proud. 2~

Or m a y b e we exper ience lonel iness a t t imes of corpora te worship. T ry as

William E. Collins 79

we may, we fail to sense God's presence in a sermon, in a hymn, or in a reli- gious community. We sense that many around us are feeling more or less connected, but we are not. We feel alone and "out of it," not seeing or under- standing what everyone else seemingly is. 27 We feel alienated from the very thing we seek with all our mind, heart, and soul: a loving God who is present, who cares for us and accepts us. Our reaction could be that of despair and loss of faith; it could be anger and a turning away from Godf 8 or it could be a re- evaluation of our picture of God, a new vision in the death of an old one, a fresh theologizing of our life story, a rediscovery of faith.

Doing personal theologizing is an exciting, lifelong adventure. One does not need academic degrees or religious training to theologize about one% life experience. Unlike systematic and dogmatic theo logy - -which focuses on questions and answers about God--personal theology focuses on human experience in relation to God. Theologizing about our own loneliness gives meaning to our lonely experiences, brings realism to our faith, and adds spir- itual and psychological depth to our solitude.

References

1. Sobosan, J. G., "Loneliness and Faith", J. Psychology and Theology, 1978, 6, 2, 106. 2. Ibid. 3. Mijuskovic, B., "Loneliness: An Interdisciplinary Approach". In Hartog, J.; Audy, J. R.; and

Cohen, Y. A., eds., The Anatomy of Loneliness. New York, International Universities Press, 1981, p. 81.

4. Ibid., p. 83. 5. Ibid., p. 89. 6. Tillich, P., "Loneliness and Solitude". In The Anatomy of Loneliness, op. cit., pp. 550, 551. 7. Ibid. 8. Becker, E., The Denial of Death. New York, The Free Press, 1973, pp. 268-269. 9. Brueggemann, W., The Message of the Psalms. Minneapolis, Augsburg Publishing House,

1984, p. 51ft. 10. Ibid., p. 78. 11. Ibid., pp. 80, 27. 12. Ibid., p. 79. 13. Ibid., p. 81. 14. Tillich, op cit., p. 552. 15. BScher, O., "Er~mos". In Brown, C., ed., The New International Dictionary of New Testament

Theology, Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1971, pp. 1005, 1006. 16. Wiesel, E., Messengers of God. New York, Summit Books, 1976, p. 12. 17. Kfing, H., Does God Exist? New York, Vintage Books, 1981, p. 653. 18. Becker, op. cir., p. 49. 19. Ibid., pp. 51, 52. 20. Sobosan, op. cit., p. 105. 21. Quoted in Oates, W., Life's Detours. Nashville, The Upper Room, 1974, pp. 47, 48. 22. Hartog, J., "Introduction: The Anatomization". In The Anatomy of Loneliness, op. cit., p. 10. 23. Nouwen, H. J. M., Reaching Out. New York, Doubleday, 1975, pp. 16-17. 24. Landgraf, J. R., Creative Singlehood and Pastoral Care. Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1982,

p. 28. 25. Sobosan, op. cit., p. 107. 26. Ibid. 27. Ibid. 28. Ibid., p. 108.