Paul Tillich

Today (August 20) in 1886 Paul Tillich, German philosophical theologian, was born in Starzeddel, Germany (d. October 22 1965). The theological value of his work is debatable, due in part to his morally decrepit life (not to mention that on his deathbed the word he was dying to hear was a Zen koan).

Here is an excerpt from an article by Paul McCain, in which R.R. Reno gives an apt analysis of the impact of Tillich on American Protestantism.

I was reading in First Things and ran across this wonderfully succinct rejection of Tillich, by R.R. Reno who had, in the previous issue, written a wonderful call to spend more time with the Church Fathers. He is writing to respond to several letters reacting to his article. One person advocated adding Tillich to the “Church Fathers” who should be read. His excoriation of Tillich was so delightfully total, yet brief, I just had to post it here.

Paul Tillich certainly knew a great deal about Christian tradition, but his overall influence on American Protestantism was largely destructive. He was the master of translating scriptural truths into vague existential slogans that countless preachers easily manipulated into a capitulation to the spirit of the age. American Lutheranism has never recovered from his gloss of justification in Christ as “you are accepted.” His account of the so-called Protestant Principle turns anti-Romanism into a global rejection of any and all forms of historical authority, including the creeds and Scripture itself. The interpretation of faith as the “courage to be” struck me as fastuous when I was a teenager, and as an adult I have seen Tillich used to justify any and every attack upon traditional forms of Christian faith and morals. No, I will not add Paul Tillich to my arsenal, as Valentino encourages. By my reading, Paul Tillich helps the barbarians maintain their illusions. His primary role in the twentieth century was to unburden the consciences of clergy who no longer believed but wanted to maintain their roles and reputations as men and women of spiritual seriousness. I have difficulty thinking of a more destructive writer. Give me the ardent atheism of Richard Dawkins any day over the pseudo-mystery and easy spiritualism of Paul Tillich.