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A history of Christian thought;

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These lectures clearly reveal Paul Tillich as one of the greatest, most brilliant, theologians of the 20th century. The book summarizes and critiques the entire history of Christian thought (with special emphasis on German theologians). Tillich's appraisals of others are completely fair. His own insights that he shares along the way are those of a devout and brilliant liberal Christian. He summarizes his approach as follows: "Theology must see both sides, man's essential nature, wonderfully and symbolically expressed in the paradise story, and man's existential condition, under sin, guilt, and death."

I have only one reservation. This may well be Tillich's most accessible work, as one reviewer states. But that speaks more to the difficulty of Tillich's other works than to the ease of working through this treatise. It is brilliant, it is beautiful, but it is tough going. I had to reread many passages two or three times to understand them (and a few I simply had to give up on). The book is absolutely worth the effort, but for anyone looking for a somewhat simpler (but excellent) introduction to Christian thought, I would recommend Alister McCrath's "Christian Theology, an Introduction."

Paul Tillich was perhaps the most important and influential 20th Century theologian writing in English. His books, however, are tough slogging--especially for those who haven't read all the many continental philosophers and theologians with whom Tillich was arguing. This book, which consists of transcriptions of lectures Tillich gave on the history of Christian thought, is, besides being a wonderful introduction to the subject matter, the best possible introduction to Tillich's own thinking. Wonderfully accessible, engaging and lively, this book is thoroughly readable. If only more of his lectures on other topics were available!

Whether or not one agrees with Tillich's theological-philosophical position or his liberal-Lutheran tendencies, his overview and analysis of Christian theology here offered is an excellent introduction or refresher. With precision and clarity he connects various movements and strains of thought which one might otherwise consider unrelated, or, more importantly, unimportant to oneself. Ultimately, the book (consistent with Tillich's existentialist leanings) attempts to point to theology's inherent purpose--personal application. He does so in this book with impeccable scholarly and intellectual skill.

This is an extraordinary set of lectures by the great theologian and cultural analyst. While hewing to the main intention of presenting a history of Christian thought, the lectures necessarily encompass a history of Western thought in general from Greco-Roman times to the present, given that specifically church-sponsored Christian thought developed and must necessarily develop in close, thoughtful, and fervent dialogue with significant trends of thought, feeling, imagination, and morality in the larger cultural environment. Each section of this book is stimulating and rich in insight. Your future reading (or past reading, for that matter) on any topic he covers in these lectures will surely profit from attending to what he writes. Tillich has a knack for getting simply to the root of any matter.

One important implication of the lectures given by Tillich on ancient and medieval Christian thought and policy is this: though they may differ as to what they draw from that tradition, that tradition belongs to all Christians.

Paul Tillich - one of the greats in Theology - systematic, thorough, enlightening. I had read excerpts of Tillich when in High School in Switzerland as a highlight of a philosophy class - in the late 50's when he was at his most popular.
This book is for anyone who wants an in-depth panorama of the historical evolution of the Christian Church....

Paul Tillich is one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century. This book, a study of the history of Christian thought, is an excellent introduction to the developement of Christian thought. However, because Tillich is a theologian in his own right, he approaches the thought of others from his own theological contruciton. However, he is still fare to all his predecessors. Furthermore, the book is well written from the point of view of both academician and lay person. Both will find it insightful and useful.

Paul Tillich (1886-1965) was a German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher. This book (subtitled "From Its Judaic and Hellenistic origins to Existentialism") was published in 1967. The Preface indicates, "A History of Christian Thought originated as lectures delivered by Tillich at Union Theological Seminary in New York ... the second part of this volume contains tape-recorded lectures which Paul Tillich delivered at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago during the spring quarter of the 1962-63 school year." Tillich himself states in the Introduction, "Actually, nobody would dare to present a complete history of what every theologian in the Christian Church has thought. That would be an ocean of contradictory ideas. The purpose of this course is quite different, namely, to show those thoughts which have become accepted expressions of the life of the church." (Pg. xxxviii)

Here are some representative quotations from the book:

"The idea of transcendence, that there is something that surpasses empirical reality, was prepared for Christian theology in the Platonic tradition." (Pg. 6)
"Celsus' deepest criticism of Christianity was neither scientific with respect to history nor philosphical with respect to the idea of incarnation; instead, it was one which arose out of a basically religious feeling. He said that the demonic powers which, according to Paul, had been conquered by Christ are actually ruling the world." (Pg. 25-26)
"The church had become a state church. This was the price which had to be paid for unity. The emperor did not command the content of the dogma, but he exercised pressure." (Pg. 72)
"What Tertullian actually said was: 'The son of God died: it is by all means to be believed, because it is absurd'... It must not be taken as a literal expression, but by means of a paradox a pointing to the incredible reality of the appearance of Christ." (Pg. 98)
"Pelagius ... does not see that Christianity also stresses the tragic universality of sin ... Pelagius had a point, but he did not see the profundity of the Christian description of the human situation." (Pg. 124)
"The church of this period lived in constant anxiety about the presence of the demonic within itself and in others. This is the background to the trials of witches ... It is the basis for the demonic persecution of the demonic." (Pg. 148-149)
"I could say that where God is not the prius of everything, he can never be reached. If one does not start with him, one cannot reach him. This is what Anselm himself felt when he realized the incompleteness of the cosmological argument." (Pg. 165)
"One is baptized for life; this had the practical consequence in the Middle Ages that all the baptized fell under the law of heresy. Those who belonged to other religions ... were not persecuted for heresy." (Pg. 216)
"The phrase should not be 'by faith alone' but 'by grace alone, received through faith alone.'" (Pg. 236)
"(A)ll of these who teach predestination have observed something empirically, namely, that there is a selective and not an equalitarian principle effective in life. Life cannot be understood in terms of an equalitarian principle, but only in terms of a selective principle." (Pg. 267)
"Marx's negation of religion is a result of his understanding of the social condition of man." (Pg. 437)
"Where science could not work any more, God was put to work, so to speak. God filled the gaps left by science. That was an unworthy idea of God." (Pg. 456)

Paul Tillich's romp through the church is done so through the eye of Existentialism, a philosophical way of thinking that took root in the mid-twentieth century. One of the most surprising ironies of Existential thinkers is the retrogressive application of this way of philosophizing projected on every philosopher, theologian, or Jewish prophet who caught their attention, all the while disavowing the label themselves. This book could have been more appropriately titled "A Existential Interpretation of the History of Christian Thought" since Tillich cannot spare us his own commentary through page after page of theological thought and development.

Like any good liberal theologian, Tillich is sympathetic towards those historically labeled as heretics or whose thought life was controversial. His section on Schleiermacher can only be described as a short historical treatment mixed with his own rambling apologetic against the neo-orthodox thinkers who attempted to marginalize the thinker's importance.

Tillich spares no expense to show that the original thinking of the church was a mix of allegory, metaphor, and existential thinking that was repressed by what he calls "the simple ones," those who clinged to literal renderings of scripture. The real fight for Tillich though is not doctrinal, but philosophical.

If by now you're wondering what any of this has to do with a fair and equitable treatment of an historical summary of theological reflection, you are right in asking this question. While the New Yorker calls this an "excellent guide for the non-specialists," it's likely a student new to theological study will come away with strong opinions superintended through the lens of 20th century existentialism.

Some specific examples will help to drive this point home. In Origen, he sees the "greatest theologian" of the church, and one who systematically denied the reality of hell. The "simple ones" (primarily the magistrates of orthodoxy), out of sheer malice and a hatred of their enemies, repressed his work as a means to inflict mental torment and anguish while pronouncing eternal damnation on those who in life they could not bring under their authority. Tillich has no problem summoning motive and establishing psychological profiles where there is none specifically to be derived.

He reinterprets the doctrine of creation ex nihilio as a metaphor for expressing a reality about God's all-encompassing being. For Tillich, there is nothing in the cosmos that resisted his creating, which he contrasts to Greek thinking in which matter was eternal and existed alongside the eternal gods.

Neo-Platonism is also introduced as a precursor to existential thinking. For example, evil is not a force of spiritual opposition to the good. But it is "participation in non-being." By non-being, Tillich asserts anything that is not self-generating or self-sustaining so as to have a reality in itself, namely material reality.

At times Tillich is so utterly wrong that it bears pointing out a few examples: In recalling the life of Apollinarius of Laodicia he seems to group him with the doctrine notable in Eutychus and fails to mention his most famous formula, namely that the mind of God replaced in the person of Jesus his human mind.

When it comes to Theodore of Mopsuestia, there are more than a few attempts to turn him into an orthodox thinker. For example, Tillich mentions that in his theology, God the Son suffered and the human nature must be adorned. In the same paragraph, Tillich says God both suffered and did not suffer a few lines down. Confusing? But he says nothing about his heresy as he has brought up in other thinkers. This detail is conspicuous, although it should be mentioned that Mopsuestia like Nestorius after him, believed the union was one of ethical union.

Meanwhile, he represents the Western thinkers as adopting a notion of the gloried Christ as one that returns to oneness with God, saying that the human nature was "swallowed up" in the heavenly one" after his ascension into Heaven. Here, Tillich seems to make the Western churches followers of Marcellus. I'm aware of no authorized view in the West, be it in Roman Catholic or Protestant circles where the churches believe that the Incarnation is an impermanent event. Plus, this implicitly denies the pre-existent oneness of the Trinity, a concept too Tillich repristinates in a form of modal monarchianism as he explains it in a later chapter.

By the time he gets to Aquinas, he informs his readers that his "five proofs" is a valid analysis so long as it remains an analysis and not an argument. Remembering that Tillich finds an existential parallel in everyone he likes, as far as analyses go, Aquinas' five proofs, we are told, are by and large "existential." He even calls Jesus and Socrates existentialists because they moved people.

This goes on and on, from personal asides such as he wishes the theological climate in Germany worked with the same agape love present in American theology, or his own affinity for Kierkegaard as he studied under Martin Kähler. There is simply too much Tillich. Tillich, however, is known for this kind of bait and switch tactic. His monumental work Courage to Be, had nothing to do with "courage" in the traditional sense, but was really a reinterpretation of "faith." So to read this book as a history, would be first to know how Tillich operates.

My recommendation is that this book be read by individuals interested in Tillich's theology not as a book impartial to a history of Christian thought. There are much better books out there, for example Thomas Oden's Classic Christianity, which simply presents the historical thought or doctrine and provides chapter and verse support from the ancient authors, allowing you to judge for yourself.