Paul Tillich’s Theological Method of Correlation
Assignment on:
Paul Tillich’s Theological Method of Correlation
Submitted to: Dr. Samuel George
Submitted by: Sunil K. Rajan, M. Div. – III
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Date: November 10, 2011
1.0. Introduction
Paul Tillich (1886-1965) was a major figure in twentieth-century theology. After holding several academic posts in Germany, he and his family moved to the United States in November 1933. He subsequently held teaching positions at Union Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, and the University of Chicago Divinity School. The author of several well-known books, he is possibly best remembered for his three-volume Systematic Theology. The present paper is an attempt to give a summary of Tillich’s theological method of correlation and offer an evaluation.
1.1. Summary of Method
In his Systematic Theology, Tillich undertakes this mediating task by exhibiting a correlation between religion and culture. Tillich begins by contrasting “kerygmatic” theology with “apologetic” theology. Kerygmatic theology “emphasizes the unchangeable truth of the message (kerygma) over against the changing demands of the situation.” The relation between the two, he suggests, is like the correlation between “questioning” and “answering” in a conversation. Although Tillich maintains that the statements of apologetic theology must be based on the kerygma, his real concern is using what he terms “the ‘method of correlation’ as a way of uniting message and situation.” When properly used, he says, this method “correlates questions and answers, situation and message, human existence and divine manifestation.” Or it is like the correlation between “form” and “content” (or “substance”) in a work of art. Indeed, it is possible to correlate them because in concrete reality “religion” and “culture” are always a single whole of which “the form of religion is culture and the substance of culture is religion.” Tillich suggests that the human condition always
Paul Tillich’s Theological Method of Correlation
Submitted to: Dr. Samuel George
Submitted by: Sunil K. Rajan, M. Div. – III
-------------------------------------------------
Date: November 10, 2011
1.0. Introduction
Paul Tillich (1886-1965) was a major figure in twentieth-century theology. After holding several academic posts in Germany, he and his family moved to the United States in November 1933. He subsequently held teaching positions at Union Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, and the University of Chicago Divinity School. The author of several well-known books, he is possibly best remembered for his three-volume Systematic Theology. The present paper is an attempt to give a summary of Tillich’s theological method of correlation and offer an evaluation.
1.1. Summary of Method
In his Systematic Theology, Tillich undertakes this mediating task by exhibiting a correlation between religion and culture. Tillich begins by contrasting “kerygmatic” theology with “apologetic” theology. Kerygmatic theology “emphasizes the unchangeable truth of the message (kerygma) over against the changing demands of the situation.” The relation between the two, he suggests, is like the correlation between “questioning” and “answering” in a conversation. Although Tillich maintains that the statements of apologetic theology must be based on the kerygma, his real concern is using what he terms “the ‘method of correlation’ as a way of uniting message and situation.” When properly used, he says, this method “correlates questions and answers, situation and message, human existence and divine manifestation.” Or it is like the correlation between “form” and “content” (or “substance”) in a work of art. Indeed, it is possible to correlate them because in concrete reality “religion” and “culture” are always a single whole of which “the form of religion is culture and the substance of culture is religion.” Tillich suggests that the human condition always
Bibliography: Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. Macmillan Company, 1961. Thomas, J. Heywood. Paul Tillich: An Appraisal. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1963. Tillich, Paul. Systematic Theology. Vol. 1. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1951. [ 3 ]. Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1951), 4. Tillich, ed. Charles W. Kegley and Robert W. Bretall (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1961), 104 [ 12 ] [ 14 ]. David Tracy, Blessed Rage for Order (New York, 1988). Quoted from The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology since 1918, David F. Ford, (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005).