The Fabric of Paul Tillich's Theology

Abstract

Paul Tillich's third volume of his Systematic Theology was never reviewed by Time magazine. Previously the publication of such a major volume was a front-cover event. The correspondent who interviewed me about the importance of the volume informed me that Time had asked five theologians in Chicago, New York and Boston respectively for an appraisal and found general agreement that Tillich's writings, except possibly for his occasional writings, especially his sermons, ‘would not last’. The astonished reporter confessed that some of these theologians had stressed that Tillich's theology was not Christian and that some had even suggested it was definitely a form of Hinduism. Having been one of the earliest of Tillich's critics I now threw whatever weight I could command into stressing the positive aspects of his thinking and the significance of his eventual contribution, but, as it turned out in this case, in vain.