Pastor Tillich

This book tells the story of Paul Tillich’s early theological development from his student days until the end of the First World War, set against the backdrop of church politics in Wilhelmine Germany and with particular reference to his early sermons. The majority of Tillich scholarship understands Tillich primarily as a philosophical theologian. But before and during the First World War, Tillich was Pastor Tillich, studying to become a pastor, leading a Christian student group, working periodically as a pastor in Berlin churches, and preaching to soldiers. Arriving in Berlin after the war, Tillich pursued religious socialism and a theology of culture through the 1920s. But the theological basis of these programmes was what Tillich considered his main concern immediately after the war: the theology of doubt. This book, using a wealth of untranslated German sources largely unknown to English-language scholarship, presents the stations of Tillich’s theological development of the notion of the justification of the doubter up to 1919. Distinguishing between Tillich’s later autobiographical statements and the witness of archival sources, a significantly original, contextualized account of Tillich’s early life in Germany emerges. From his days as the conservative son of a conservative Lutheran pastor to the battle-worn chaplain who could even write about ‘faith without God’, Tillich underwent considerable change. This book should therefore speak to any interested in the history of modern theology, as an example of how biography and theology are intertwined.

Conclusion

This conclusion summarizes key aspects of Tillich’s development towards the notion of the justification of the doubter: the grace of God, the relationship between faith and reason, the notion of an intellectual work, and doubt understood as faith. The conclusion closes with an epilogue on the significance of Tillich’s solution to a religious problem for a theology of culture.

Christ, Reality, and Freedom: Trinitarian Metaphysics as a Theology of Culture

This essay explores the possibility of a narrative theology of culture by drawing on the trinitarian metaphysics of Robert W. Jenson. Postliberal or narrative theologies have often been said to hinder the intercultural translation of the gospel by promoting the cultural forms of Western Christianity as the ideal, but I argue here that Jenson’s theology (enlisting some distinctively postliberal themes) creates a critical distance between the church and Christian civilization, while also enabling the free creation and expression of diverse cultural expressions of the gospel. The first section of the paper is a critical project, using a trinitarian metaphysics to rule out any reduction of Christian culture to its Western expressions. Since the community of the Trinity is the one cultural form to which God’s people strive, and because the church’s full participation in this community is eschatological, Christian cultural expression cannot be reduced to one particular cultural form. This creates distance between the church and the world, preventing a strict identification of Christianity with Western culture. The second part of the paper then offers a constructive project, demonstrating how a trinitarian understanding of creaturely freedom enables the development of human culture. By grounding creation’s freedom in the freedom of the triune persons, a trinitarian metaphysics enables the free and loving development of creation in an infinite number of ways. In doing so, Jenson’s metaphysics does not compromise the diversity of human cultures, but instead allows human cultures to flourish in their endless variety.

Christ, Reality, and Freedom: Trinitarian Metaphysics as a Theology of Culture

This essay explores the possibility of a narrative theology of culture by drawing on the trinitarian metaphysics of Robert W. Jenson. Postliberal or narrative theologies have often been said to hinder the intercultural translation of the gospel by promoting the cultural forms of Western Christianity as the ideal, but I argue here that Jenson’s theology (enlisting some distinctively postliberal themes) creates a critical distance between the church and Christian civilization, while also enabling the free creation and expression of diverse cultural expressions of the gospel. The first section of the paper is a critical project, using a trinitarian metaphysics to rule out any reduction of Christian culture to its Western expressions. Since the community of the Trinity is the one cultural form to which God’s people strive, and because the church’s full participation in this community is eschatological, Christian cultural expression cannot be reduced to one particular cultural form. This creates distance between the church and the world, preventing a strict identification of Christianity with Western culture. The second part of the paper then offers a constructive project, demonstrating how a trinitarian understanding of creaturely freedom enables the development of human culture. By grounding creation’s freedom in the freedom of the triune persons, a trinitarian metaphysics enables the free and loving development of creation in an infinite number of ways. In doing so, Jenson’s metaphysics does not compromise the diversity of human cultures, but instead allows human cultures to flourish in their endless variety.

A teologia diante do pluralismo religioso: Uma hermenêutica do diálogo inter-religioso a partir de Paul Tillich | The theology in face of religious pluralism: a hermeneutics of interreligious dialogue stemming from Paul Tillich

Ao longo da história a teologia interpretou a fé cristã a partir de sua própria lógica e compreensão. Tal atitude levou o cristianismo a aclamar para si um posicionamento de exclusivismo religioso e, também, da revelação divina. Diante disso, o presente texto se propõe a refletir sobre as necessárias questões do pluralismo religioso face à modernidade e suas implicações. Paul Tillich, renomado teólogo do século XX que interpretou o cristianismo a partir de uma teologia da cultura, deixa apontamentos que possibilitam a construção de um diálogo inter-religioso, considerando os desafios que o cercam, mas apontando também soluções práticas e teóricas para o estabelecimento do respeito, da alteridade e da dignidade. Para tanto, se tornam necessárias uma análise profunda do tema do pluralismo religioso, bem como uma reinterpretação teológica a partir da dimensão do sagrado e do significado da própria religião. Por fim, o presente texto não reivindica para si a pretensão de encerrar definitivamente a questão e os desafios que englobam o tema do diálogo inter-religioso, mas procura apresentar uma contribuição para que o tema possa tornar-se cada vez mais elucidado, abrindo caminhos para a superação da intolerância religiosa.Abstract Throughout history, theology has interpreted the Christian faith from its own logic and understanding. Such an attitude led Christianity to acclaim for itself a position of religious exclusivity and also of divine revelation. In view of this, this text aims to reflect the necessary issues of religious pluralism in the face of modernity and its implications. Paul Tillich, renowned theologian of the 20th century who interpreted Christianity from a theology of culture, leaves notes that make possible to build an interreligious dialogue, considering the challenges that surround it, but also pointing out practical and theoretical solutions for the establishment of respect, otherness and dignity. For this, a deep analysis of the theme of religious pluralism is necessary, as well as a theological reinterpretation from the dimension of the sacred and the meaning of religion itself. Finally, this text does not claim for itself the intention to definitively end the issue and the challenges that encompass the theme of interreligious dialogue. However, it seeks to make a contribution so that the theme can become more and more elucidated, opening paths for overcoming religious intolerance.

Peran Teologi Budaya dan Agama

Abstrak Aktualisasi iman merupakan keyakinan seseorang terhadap yang diimani. Proses pergulatan menemukan makna terdalam, Paul Tillich menyebutnya Ultimate Concern. Istilah ini menjadi simpul metaphoris ketika manusia mendalami iman. Ultimate Concern bukan sekadar epistemologi, namun lebih pada sisi ontologi sekaligus aksiologi. Beriman tidak bisa lepas dari pengalaman sehari-hari. Paul Tillich mengambarkan bahwa berteologi tidak bisa menghilangkan peradapan manusia. Paul Tillich menjembatani semuanya dengan “Ultimate Reality atau Ultimate Concern. Theology of Culture merupakan refleksi iman Paul Tillich yang merujuk teologi budaya. Pemikiran ini menjadi tawaran menghidupi teologi budaya melalui bahasa, ruang, dan waktu.

Alexander Men and Russian Religious Thought in the Post-Soviet Situation

Alexander Men was the major representative in Soviet times of Russian religious philosophy within post-Stalinist Russia. This chapter contextualizes his spiritual formation and then presents his major theological themes, based on an openness to the world inspired by a belief in the possibility of co-creation between God and humanity. In this he shared Russian religious philosophy’s focus on the person of Jesus Christ as the centre of history, on its concept of Godmanhood, and its supreme ideal of deification. Men’s notion of freedom and creativity, a significant part of his theological anthropology and his theology of culture, are important contributions to the development of this religio-philosophical tradition. The ecumenical dimension of his work is also presented, as well as his attempts to engage with other religions, particularly Judaism and Islam. Lastly, his legacy for Orthodoxy in the Soviet Union and also in the West will be briefly noted.

Fr. Georges Florovsky’s Theology of History as the Mainstream of Neo-Patristics

В статье дана характеристика концепции неопатристического синтеза, претерпевшей существенные изменения за период, прошедший с момента её провозглашения протоиереем Георгием Флоровским в 1936 г. Имея вначале довольно обобщённый характер, она уточнялась, интегрируя в свой состав результаты осуществлённых за прошедшие годы междисциплинарных исследований, приобретая со временем характер методологически выдержанного дискурса. В этом интегральном дискурсе, включающем богословие истории, экклезиологию, антропологию, богословие культуры - богословие истории имеет характер стержневой концепции, определяющей архитектонику всего здания неопатристического синтеза. В статье дан обзор работ Флоровского, посвящённых теме христианского понимания истории, за весь период его публикационной активности. Это позволяет отследить эволюцию и различные грани богословия истории прот. Георгия. The article characterizes the concept of neo-patristic synthesis, which suffered substantial changes since it was declared by Fr. Georges Florovsky in 1936. Being initially rather abstract and generic, it gradually gained in precision and detail, incorporating the results of subsequent multidisciplinary studies, and acquired the features of methodologically rigorous discourse. In this integrated discourse, which also includes ecclesiology, anthropology, theology of culture, theology of history plays the role of the core concept, determining the architectonics of the whole building of neo-patristic synthesis. The author consecutively reviews all Florovsky’s works dedicated to the Christian understanding of history. This allows to trace the evolution and different shades of Fr. Georges’ theology of history.

Paul Tillich ‐ Interpreter of Life : The importance of his philosophico-theological thinking today

Werner Schüßler regards Paul Tillich’s philosophico-theological thinking to be relevant for today for three reasons: His idea of a theology of culture shows that religion is the depth dimension of culture and that both areas cannot be strictly separated from each other. Therefore, in principle everything can become a subject of theology. With his formal definition of faith as the state of being ultimately concerned, he tries to make clear that every human being as a human being is a religious being and that even secularization is a religious phenomenon. And in contrast to Karl Barth, Tillich draws attention to the indispensable importance of philosophy for theology.

Barth and Culture

Due to a widespread perception that he was a theologian of division, Karl Barth is not generally counted amongst the twentieth century’s great theologians of culture. Although this reputation derives largely from an unfair caricature, it also grows out of Barth’s very real scepticism concerning the possibility of a theology of culture that could avoid the deification of human achievements. Those who delve deeply into Barth’s understanding of culture, however, find in his writings a rich resource in his eschatological appreciation of secular culture. This chapter examines his writings on culture between 1926 and 1932, including his lectures on ethics and Church Dogmatics I/1, as well as his later essays on Mozart (1956) and relevant portions of Church Dogmatics IV/3, noting how these texts can be positively interpreted and can fund a contemporary theology of culture.