Tillich, Paul (Johannes)

(born , Aug. 20, 1886, Starzeddel, Brandenburg, Ger.—died Oct. 22, 1965, Chicago, Ill., U.S.) German-born U.S. Protestant theologian. He studied at Berlin, Tübingen, and Halle and was a chaplain with the German army during World War I. He taught successively at Marburg, Dresden, and Frankfurt am Main. In 1933 the Nazi takeover prompted him to immigrate to the U.S. With the aid of Reinhold Niebuhr, he joined the faculty of New York's Union Theological Seminary. He became respected for his lucid preaching and his Systematic Theology, 3 vol. (1951–63). He moved to Harvard University in 1955 and to the University of Chicago in 1962. His theological system was an unusual combination of biblical, existentialist, and metaphysical elements, and he attempted to convey an understanding of God that depended neither on revelation nor on science. His other works include The Courage to Be (1952) and Dynamics of Faith (1957).

Tillich, Paul (Johannes) (1886–1965) theologian, philosopher; born in Starzeddel, Prussia. Educated in theology and philosophy and ordained a Lutheran minister (1912), he was a chaplain in World War I, then pursued an academic career, but his religiously grounded socialism and opposition to Hitler led to suspension from the University of Frankfurt in 1933. Emigrating to America, he held posts at Union Theological Seminary (1933–55), Harvard (1955–62), and the University of Chicago (1962–65). He emerged in lectures, sermons, and writings as an "apostle to the skeptics," seeking to harmonize Christianity and modern culture. His existentially oriented work, The Courage to Be (1952), focusing on God as object of "ultimate concern," was one of several that reached a wide audience; he became perhaps the century's best-known American theologian. His principal work was the three-volume Systematic Theology (1951, 1957, 1963).