Theology of Culture

by Paul Tillich, Robert C. Kimball (Editor)

Theology of Culture draws together fifteen of Dr. Tillich's finest essays, in which a diversity of contemporary attitudes and problems is brought within the wide scope of his philosophy. His classic essay, The Two Types of Philosophy of Religion, is included here as a focal arguement for closing the fateful gap between religion and culture, thus reconciling concerns which are not strange to each other. Dr. Tillich consequently shows the religious dimension in many special spheres of man's cultural activity by discussing religion in relation to art, Existentialism, psychoanalysis, science, and education. He also argues against spiritual and intellectual provincialism by comparing the cultures of Europe and Americal, America and Russia, and the philosophies of Protestantism and Judaism. To those already familiar with Dr.Tillich's writings, this book makes available a selection of his previously scattered esays. For those who are reading his book for the first time, this book brings together the grand motifs of the thought of a great theologian and philosopher.

Genres: Theology, Philosophy, Religion, Cultural, Christian, Spirituality, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1958

About the author

Paul Tillich was a German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher. Tillich was – along with his contemporaries Rudolf Bultmann (Germany), Karl Barth (Switzerland), and Reinhold Niebuhr (United States) – one of the four most influential Protestant theologians of the 20th century. Among the general populace, he is best known for his works The Courage to Be (1952) and Dynamics of Faith (1957), which introduced issues of theology and modern culture to a general readership. Theologically, he is best known for his major three-volume work Systematic Theology (1951–63), in which he developed his "method of correlation": an approach of exploring the symbols of Christian revelation as answers to the problems of human existence raised by contemporary existential philosophical analysis.

Reviews

[Maryam · Rating 4 out of 5]

مرسی از ترجمه خوب این کتاب

[Mohammad Mahdi Fallah · Rating 5 out of 5]

کتاب شامل مجموعه‌ای از یادداشت‌ها و سخنرانی‌هایی است که تیلیش در آمریکا طرح کرده است؛ ولی ایده الهیات فرهنگ بسیار پیش‌تر در آلمان قبل از جنگ جهانی دوم زاده شده است. برای همین شاید در نهایت این کتاب، ایده اصلی الهیات فرهنگ به دست نیاید، ولی سرخط های بسیار خوبی برای فهم آنچیزی که تیلیش مدنظر دارد در اختیار می‌گذارد. البته نباید غافل شد از اینکه بعضی مقالات شاید صرفاً روح الهیات فرهنگ را که پروژه اصلی تیلیش است را به دوش می‌کشند و به صورت مستقیم ارتباطی با آن برقرار نمی‌کنند: مثلا مقاله ماهیت زبان دینی یا ابلاغ پیام مسیحی، هرچند پر از ایده‌های بکر و جذاب است ولی به طور مستقیم ارتباطی با ایده الهیات فرهنگ به نظر نمی‌رسد که داشته باشد.
فارغ از جزئیات این پروژه که تفصیل می‌طلبد، آنچیزی که به نظر می‌رسد نوشته‌ها و رویکرد تیلیش را منحصربه‌فرد می‌کند، چنانچه فرهادپور نیز در مؤخره کتاب خاطر نشان کرده، به رسمیت شناختن جامعه و فرهنگ است؛ چیزی که عمیقاً در الهیات سنتی اسلام جای خالی‌اش احساس می‌شود.

[Alex Strohschein · Rating 2 out of 5]

To me, this book seems more like a "philosophy" of culture than a theology. Paul Tillich DOES bring his Christian perspective (which I admit, I don't understand and I probably disagree with significantly - I would need to read a "Tillich For Dummies" book) in dialogue with science, psychology and other fields but it is not a robust biblical theology. At the outset he defines religion as "ultimate concern" which has its benefits but it also divorces it completely from spiritual connotations (I am frustrated by linguistic gymnastics; "Jefferson Bethke - religion is not a bad term so stop treating it like one!"). There is a heavy emphasis on existentialism in these essays which remind me of my high school English teacher's talks on existentialism but I think this also is a weakness because it makes the essays dated. His section about "concrete applications" was far more philosophical than concrete. The essays were hit and miss but the ones I appreciated were "The Nature of Religious Language," "Moralisms and Morality: Theonomous Ethics," "The Conquest of Intellectual Provincialism: Europe and America," and "Communicating the Christian Message: A Question to Christian Ministers and Teachers." Tillich is a important thinker in 20th century Christianity so I am glad I finally read some of his work.

[Mohammad Mirzaali · Rating 3 out of 5]

مجموعه مقالاتی از الهی‌دان اگزیستانسیالیست و پروتستان، پل تیلیش درباره‌ی نسبت فرهنگ (مدرن) با الهیات

[Alex Kartelias · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my new favorite theologians. Being an ex-athiest, I totally agree that existentialism is still to be a relevant topic when discussing spirituality and the lack-there-of in modern society. It's also great to know that there are still some modern Christian theologians who have not deveated from that central notion that God is not merely, 'a being amongst others' or 'the highest being amongst others', but Being Beyond created being. His great grasp of historical theology, his eloquent reasoning and fresh insights, make Paul Tillich one of the most interesting theologians in the past century.

[Leonardo]

Paul Tillich, un teólogo alemán muy influyente, dijo que la idea de un dios personal sólo podía entenderse como un símbolo de algo más, y, quizá, debemos entender ese algo como un dios impersonal.

Religión sin dios Pág.31

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

That Tillich closes the work with an essay on communicating the gospel points to an underlying purpose for writing the book: he hopes to make the Christian faith sensible in the contemporary world. Theology of Culture has a number of fine essays (notably, his essays on the history of existentialism and on the two types of philosophy of religion), and each of which speaks to an element of modern theologizing. For contours of Tillich's thought, this is a fine place to start.

[cellus · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a philosophy student and layman in theology I have to say this book, although short and not all too in depth, was a great bridge into theology. The religious explanation for the succes of the marxist movement and the Christian roots of (and answers to the same problem identified by) existentialism were a fresh gaze on familiar subjects. All packed in succint, clear writing. Enjoyed reading this, truly.

[Santiago Iturbide · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant series of conferences delivered to the Kantian society of Berlin in 1919. As a theologian among the philosophers and a philosopher among the theologians, Tillich reflects on the "religious" as the essence of all cultural creation and of culture as the only form in which religion manifests itself.

[Jarrel Oliveira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite possibly one of my favorite books on theology, being, and culture. Tillich makes ontological and existential argumentation and dialogue digestible. Whereas Heidegger makes it an insurmountable subject matter. Each chapter is a bit scattered and unconnected, but some are more intelligible than others. Perhaps a break between a German theologian and philosopher of yesteryear discussing matters of his time and location which do not easily translate well into our time and place. But Tillich's grasp of his niche is unmatched.

I look forward to reading more of his work and the numerous theologians and philosophers he admires.

One must take their time with these books. They're brief in comparison to more technical collegiate or graduate-level writings but just as weighty if not more.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tillich was esteemed by many of his renowned colleagues, such and Niebuhr and Albert Outler, as the most outstanding philosopher of religion in his generation. This volume does not betray him in this regard. As with all of Tillich's work, this work is challenging and very well written.

When I say challenging, I mean in the method by which Tillich communicates his thoughts. His use of language is impressive and it hard to believe that English is a second language to him. The concept that he communicates through the written word are heavy. You can not just jump in and give it a cursory read and expect to know what he is talking about. There were numerous passages throughout the book that I need to read and reread, often numerous times before I got the point. I will say, however, that once understood, the points were well worth the effort employed to understand.

Although written almost fifty years ago, Tillich's ideas are amazingly relevant for todays world. His forward thinking and leaning are very apparent. Most relevant is found in the later portion of the book regarding the need and challenges to communicating the Gospel in our world. Tillich says that we have to find a way to get people to begin asking the questions to which the Gospel has the answers.

Last, Tillich goes into great detail about Existential philosophy and shows the great impact it has had upon modern theological thought (and this is still relevant today as well). He also deals with what he calls depth psychology which is psycho-analysis. He appraises this as being a cultural revolution sorts that is very favorable to moderate theological thought.

I highly recommend this volume by Tillich. This is my first time reading it, but I am sure that I will be picking it back up many times in the years to come.

[Negar · Rating 4 out of 5]

این کتاب حقیقتا غنی است و با سطوح علمی و تجربیات دینی متفاوت باید بارها و بارها خوانده شود. گمان میکنم اگر در سر خویش شوری دارید و قلبی که برای ایمان می تپد و ذهنی که به سوی اندیشه های والا گرایش دارد این کتاب برای شما بسیار ارزشمند باشد.
قطعا پیش از این کتاب توصیه میکنم با کتب مقدس(عهد عتیق و جدید) ، فلسفه تحلیلی،فلسفه اگزیستاسیال به ویژه کیرکگارد آشنایی داشته باشید .
و برای درک بهتر و موثر تر: شناخت از دینی که به آن معتقدید( مثلا برای من مطالعه بسیار دقیق قرآن) ، آشنایی با جنبش لوتری، تاریج و جامعه شناسی روسیه، اروپا و آمریکا توصیه می شود .
اما تا چند سالگی مطالعه کنیم که در همه ی این امور توانایی کافی داشته باشیم؟
پیشنهاد من اینست که این کتاب را به عنوان راهنمایی که پل تیلیش به ما عرضه میکند بپذیریم و از موضوعات ارائه شده در کتاب به سوی منابع جدیدتر برویم، به طور مثال وقتی سخن از کیرکگارد می آید برویم و چند کتاب از او بخوانیم . ( کتاب های کیرکگارد!! نه سرچ در گوگل و ویکپدیا یا کتاب هایی که دیگران درباره کیرکگارد نوشته اند).

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Paul Tillich compiles 15 essays, any one is a masterpiece in itself. The main motif is to discuss the relationship of a systematic human behavior (Culture) with a systematic theology....liberation from an old Being.

"The Christian message is the message of a new Reality in which we can participate and which gives us the power to take anxiety and despair upon ourselves. And this we must, and this we can communicate."

[Conrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Totally over my head, although I did get a little out of some of the essays. Like his idea that God is not like other beings, instead he is the Ground of Being… the foundation that permits life, but distinct from it.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to Tillich's key ideas, applied to philosophy, the arts, psychology, science, etc. I first read this in college, but it holds up quite well.

[Hadyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled to read this book; I didn't realize it was a series of essays and tried to read it as a cohesive whole. I think each essay deserves to be read on its own and ruminated on for a bit.