Political Theology of Paul Tillich

Rachel Sophia Baard is assistant professor of theology and ethics at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia.

Paul Tillich was a prominent public theologian of the 1950s and 1960s who immigrated to the US following Nazi expulsion from his post at a German university. In this collection his better-known Cold War–era works rightly share the stage with his 1933 work The Socialist Decision and his wartime broadcasts which offered Germany a stark alternative to Nazi theorist Carl Schmitt’s Political Theology (1922). These essays by senior, mid-career, and rising scholars will enrich both newcomers to Tillich and seasoned readers. Essays in section 1 contextualize Tillich’s early work: his traumatic WW I experience, Weimar-era political theologizing, and its continuity with his Systematic Theology (1951). The middle section brings Tillich’s work into dialogue with varied liberationist theologians—James H. Cone, Delores S. Williams, Óscar Romero. Section 3 demonstrates the enduring relevance of Tillich’s work for contemporary issues in political theology—as Sámi reindeer herders in the Artic face "ultimate ecological concern"; as his sermons inform issues of disability; as his critiques of nationalism, Fascism, and the "demonic" address issues surrounding migration, religious violence, and the current American political scene. All told, this volume makes a compelling case for retaining Tillich in the canon of essential theological reading and for giving greater attention to his earlier work and the political "demonic." Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

• PrefacePart One: Paul Tillich’s Political TheologyIntroduction: Paul Tillich, Political Theologian, Rachel Sophia BaardChapter One: Religious Socialism as Political Theology: Paul Tillich, Marxian Dialectic, and the Struggle Between the World Wars, Gary DorrienChapter Two: Tillich’s American Wars, Ronald H. StoneChapter Three: “The Political” in Paul Tillich’s Theology, Mark Lewis TaylorChapter Four: Theology of Culture as Public Theology: Paul Tillich and the Social Ethics of Religious Experience, Scott PaethPart Two: Tillich in Dialogue with Liberation TheologiansChapter Five: The Politics of God: Paul Tillich’s Contribution to Black Theology?, Andre L. PriceChapter Six: Tillich and Liberation Theology: Public Media and Political Resistance, Rubén Rosarío RodríguezChapter Seven: Even the Demons Believe and Shudder: A Conversation Between Paul J. Tillich and Delores S. Williams on the Political Nature of Evil, Michele E. WatkinsPart Three: Tillich and Contemporary IssuesChapter Eight: Ultimate Ecological Concern: Transporting Tillich to the Arctic, Sigríður GuðmarsdóttirChapter Nine: Narratives of Justification and Inclusion in Paul Tillich’s Preaching: A German Perspective, Ilona NordChapter Ten: Religion is not Violent: Tillich, Anxiety, and the Politics of Religious Violence, Verna EhretChapter Eleven: Boundaries and Borders: Tillich and Issues of Migration, Mary Ann StengerChapter Twelve: Fascism, Global Politics, and Religious Symbols: Engaging Tillich’s Ideas of the Demonic, the Kingdom of God, and the Spiritual Presence, Ben Siu-pun HoChapter Thirteen: America Last: Harvesting Paul Tillich’s Rejection of Nationalism and National Sovereignty for the 21st Century, Matthew Lon WeaverAbout the Contributors