Learning modules on Paul Tillich · 1886–1965
The boundary is the truly fruitful place of knowledge.
Learning modules on the life and thought of Paul Tillich — with original recordings, source texts and tasks. For seminars, teaching and independent study. No sign-up.
15 modules
Each module carries one session. The stated time is the working time, not the length of the recording — listening, reading and tasks together.
- 01Paul Tillich‘s understanding of religionThis module offers an introduction to Paul Tillich’s understanding of religion. To this end, a pop-cultural approach is chosen that enables students to develop their own definitions of religion, theology and God independently of Tillich.
- 02Paul Tillich: Religion and Culture (Part 1)In his text “Religion und Kultur” [“Religion and Culture”], Paul Tillich sets out a reciprocal relationship between the two. This relationship can be opened up against the background of his definitions of religion and of culture, and with the help of his account of a “contemporary culture” — and it can be carried over into the world we live in today. The module was created by Marlene Rudolf, a student at the University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd, as part of a bachelor’s thesis in Protestant theology. Because of its length it has been divided into two parts; this is the first.
- 03Paul Tillich: Religion and Culture (Part 2)In his text “Religion und Kultur” [“Religion and Culture”], Paul Tillich sets out a reciprocal relationship between the two. This relationship can be opened up against the background of his definitions of religion and of culture, and with the help of his account of a “contemporary culture” — and it can be carried over into the world we live in today. The module was created by Marlene Rudolf, a student at the University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd, as part of a bachelor’s thesis in Protestant theology. Because of its length it has been divided into two parts; this is the second.
- 04Paul Tillich and Judaism before and during his emigrationIn contrast to contemporary Protestant theology, Paul Tillich had already taken an interest in the "living" Judaism of his time in the 1920s. After emigrating to the USA in 1933 following Hitler's rise to power, he repeatedly commented on Nazi anti-Semitism, particularly after the Reichspogromnacht in 1938.
- 05Paul Tillich’s lectures on “The Jewish Question”Paul Tillich repeatedly commented on anti-Semitism during the Nazi era – with a clarity that was still lacking in the first church confessions of guilt after 1945. With his lectures on the “Jewish question” in 1953, he did important groundwork for the necessary readjustment of the Christian-Jewish relationship.
- 06Introduction: Tillich in conversationA series of conversations on stations of liberal Protestantism, part 5. Matthias Kroeger in conversation with Rüdiger Achenbach, Deutschlandfunk, 4 March 2013This module offers an introduction to Paul Tillich's understanding of religion, based on a Deutschlandfunk radio interview with Matthias Kroeger.
- 07BiographyPaul Tillich (1886-1965)The module works through the course of Paul Tillich's life. It also helps to place his publications in their biographical and historical context.
- 08On the BoundaryThe boundary is the truly fruitful place of knowledgeAn introduction to Tillich's text “Auf der Grenze” [“On the Boundary”], supported by a short lecture.
- 09What Is Truth?Tillich as preacher — two sermons on truth and on depthThe module works on Tillich's sermon “What Is Truth?” alongside “The Depth of Existence”.
- 10Tillich and JudaismTillich's statements on antisemitism and on the Christian–Jewish relationshipThe module works on Tillich's lecture series “Die Judenfrage” [“The Jewish Question”].
- 11Tillich and German IdealismSchelling, Fichte, Hegel — the philosophical roots of Tillich's theologyAn introduction to the influence of German Idealism on Paul Tillich's theology.
- 12Encountering Paul TillichWerner Schüßler on his path to Tillich and on Tillich's concept of GodThe module brings your own biography and theology into contact with the life and work of Paul Tillich.
- 13Comparative TheologyTillich as mediator and partner in dialogue between the religionsThis module deals with comparative theology: how Tillich's understanding of God as the “ground of being” can help towards understanding other religions and towards building a bridge to them.
- 14Love, Power and JusticeThe Six Nations and Tillich's notions of justiceThis module works closely on the book “Love, Power and Justice”. Verna Ehret gives an insight into her own engagement with Tillich's work and into the way the US government dealt with the Seneca Nation in the region around Pittsburgh. Tillich's remarks on justice connect particularly well with present-day questions about racism.
- 15God does not existTillich in confirmation classes — a double lesson on images of GodConfirmands bring images of God with them without knowing it: the rewarder, the watchman, the God of those in power. Tillich spent his life disputing that God is any such thing. This unit brings the two together — with sticky dots, a sentence that provokes contradiction, and the question of what concerns you unconditionally.