Paul Tillich

Paul Johannes Tillich (August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher. Tillich is, along with contemporary Karl Barth, the most influential Protestant theologian of recent times.

Related Topics:
August 20 - 1886 - October 22 - 1965 - German - American - Theologian - Christian - Existentialist - Philosopher - Karl Barth

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Born in Starzeddel (in Guben county in what is now Poland), Tillich studied at a number of German universities—those of Berlin, Tübingen, Halle, and Breslau—before finally obtaining a degree. Shortly thereafter, in 1912, he was ordained minister in the Lutheran Church, and soon took up a career as professor. Except for an interlude as chaplain in the German army during World War I, he taught at number of universities throughout Germany over the next two decades. Tillich taught theology at the universities of Berlin, Marburg, Dresden, and Leipzig, and philosophy at Frankfurt. However, his opposition to the Nazis cost him his job: he was fired in 1933 and replaced by philosopher Arnold Gehlen, who had joined the NSDAP that year. Finding himself thus barred from German universities, Tillich accepted an invitation from Reinhold Niebuhr to teach at the Union Theological Seminary in the United States, where he emigrated later that year. Tillich became a US citizen in 1940.

Related Topics:
Starzeddel - Berlin - Tübingen - Halle - Breslau - 1912 - Lutheran Church - Professor - Chaplain - World War I - Marburg - Dresden - Leipzig - Frankfurt - Nazi - 1933 - Arnold Gehlen - NSDAP - Reinhold Niebuhr - Union Theological Seminary - United States - Citizen - 1940

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It is at the Union Theological Seminary that Tillich earned his reputation, publishing a series of books that outlined his particular synthesis of Protestant Christian theology with existentialist philosophy (drawing on research in psychology in the process). Between 1952 and 1954 Tillich gave the Gifford lectures at the University of Aberdeen, which resulted in the comprehensive three volume Systematic Theology. A 1952 book outlining many of his views on the existentialism, The Courage to Be, proved popular even outside philosophical and religious circles, earning him considerable acclaim and influence. These works led to a prestigious appointment at Harvard University in 1954, where he wrote another popularly acclaimed book, Dynamics of Faith (1957). He was also a very important contributor to modern just war thought. In 1962, he moved to the University of Chicago, where he continued until his death in Chicago in 1965. Tillich's ashes were interred in 1965 in the Paul Tillich Park in New Harmony, Indiana.

Related Topics:
Protestant - Psychology - Gifford lectures - University of Aberdeen - 1952 - Harvard University - 1954 - 1957 - Just war - 1962 - University of Chicago - Chicago - 1965 - New Harmony, Indiana

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