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Paul Tillich

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Religious Figure

The Resume

    (August 20, 1886-October 22, 1965)
    Born in Starzeddel, Germany (now Starosiedle, Poland)
    Lutheran minister, Protestant theologian and existential philosopher
    Professor of Theology at the University of Marburg (1924-25), University of Leipzig (1925-29), University of Frankfurt (1929-33), Union Theological Seminary (1933-55), Harvard (1955-62) and the University of Chicago (1962-65)
    Wrote ‘The Courage to Be’ (1952), ‘Dynamics of Faith’ (1957) and ‘Systematic Theology’ (three volumes, 1951-63)

Why he might be annoying:

    During his first marriage, he conducted a long-term affair with his best friend’s wife. (Who became the second Mrs. Tillich.)
    He was a leader at the New Age-y Esalen Institute.
    He rejected the ‘personal God’ of much of popular Christianity.
    His theology was too unorthodox for more conservative Christians, with ‘The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology’ claiming, ‘At best Tillich was a pantheist, but his thought borders on atheism.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    Because of his opposition to Hitler, he was the first non-Jewish professor banned from teaching in German universities by the Nazis.
    He avoided arrest by the Gestapo only because he was warned by a friend.
    He was called ‘the Apostle to the intellectuals.’
    The ‘Library of Living Theology’ declared, ‘The adjective ‘great,’ in our opinion, can be applied to very few thinkers of our time, but Tillich, we are far from alone in believing, stands unquestionably amongst these few.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 18 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 53 Votes: 50.94% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying