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Overview
Paul Tillich (1886-1965) was a German-American Protestant theologian who tried to speak about faith in terms that thoughtful non-believers could follow. In The Courage to Be (1952) he asks how people can face anxiety about death, meaninglessness and guilt, and answers that courage is the affirmation of oneself despite what threatens it. His related idea that faith is ultimate concern has influenced theology, psychology and public discussion of religion.
Context
Tillich lost his university post in Germany in 1933 after the Nazis came to power and moved to the United States, where he taught at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He wrote after two world wars, when existentialist writers were describing anxiety and absurdity, and he borrowed their vocabulary while offering a religious answer.
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Curator's notes
- Why it matters
- Faith as ultimate concern; courage to accept anxiety
- What to read
- The Courage to Be
- Thinker
- Paul Tillich
- Tradition (date)
- Christian existentialism (1952)
- Key idea
- Faith as ultimate concern; courage to accept anxiety
- Read
- The Courage to Be
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