Issue 19 Single LivingBlog | The Late Greats – Paul Tillich
The Late Greats – Paul Tillich
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 06.06.19
He hoped to show ‘that the Christian message – be it expressed in abstract theology or concrete preaching – is relevant for our time if it uses the language of our time.’1 For those who heard Paul Tillich preach or read the volumes of sermons that he published, the distinction between abstract theology and concrete preaching might be difficult to detect. But the aim is clear: Tillich had a message of importance that was founded in his understanding of God, without which he believed every human life was much less than it could be.
I t was a pastoral concern that originated in his own experience. Tillich was born in 1886 in Starzeddel (then in Germany but now in Poland). He studied theology and philosophy and was ordained a Lutheran pastor, following his father’s profession. From 1914 to 1918 he served as an army chaplain. The horrors of war traumatised him and caused him to rethink much of what he believed, with a philosophical and political radicalism. An academic career followed but the publication of The Socialist Decision and other public statements critical of the Nazi regime caused friends to fear for his safety and to arrange an invitation to a teaching post in New York. Tillich moved to the US in 1933 and lived and taught there until his death in 1965.
