Divine Love in Tillich’s Justification Doctrine: Is It Sufficiently Lutheran?
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Robison B. James
Abstract
Reflecting on Tillich’s understanding of justification and divine love, this essay explores Tillich in comparison with both Luther himself and recent Finnish Luther scholarship. Exploring how divine love is a unique type of love, the essay demonstrates ways in which Tillich both embraces and resists the creativity of and participation in divine love. It argues that a more robust conception of the creative character of divine love would have enriched Tillich’s conception of justification by faith. The words of the 1960s song quoted just above are a gesture toward the theme of the present issue of this volume, “Brokenness and Reconciliation.” In addition, those lyrics highlight aspects of the question with which I want to deal in this essay. My main question in this essay runs as follows: assuming that Tillich intends to be Lutheran in his understanding of justification by faith, to what extent does he succeed in doing so with respect to the divine love that is at work in justification by faith? This question was raised for me by the contrasts among different conceptions of grace worked out by John M. G. Barclay in his magisterial Paul and the Gift of 2015.
Abstract
Reflecting on Tillich’s understanding of justification and divine love, this essay explores Tillich in comparison with both Luther himself and recent Finnish Luther scholarship. Exploring how divine love is a unique type of love, the essay demonstrates ways in which Tillich both embraces and resists the creativity of and participation in divine love. It argues that a more robust conception of the creative character of divine love would have enriched Tillich’s conception of justification by faith. The words of the 1960s song quoted just above are a gesture toward the theme of the present issue of this volume, “Brokenness and Reconciliation.” In addition, those lyrics highlight aspects of the question with which I want to deal in this essay. My main question in this essay runs as follows: assuming that Tillich intends to be Lutheran in his understanding of justification by faith, to what extent does he succeed in doing so with respect to the divine love that is at work in justification by faith? This question was raised for me by the contrasts among different conceptions of grace worked out by John M. G. Barclay in his magisterial Paul and the Gift of 2015.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- Versöhnte Gebrochenheit 1
- La réconciliation à l’image du Christ 23
- A World in Need: Brokenness and Reconciliation Explored through Paul Tillich’s Doing of Social Work 45
- « L’étranger » entre aliénation, altération et réconciliation 71
- „Dass das Prinzip der Entgegensetzung nicht aufgehoben werden kann, sondern menschliches Sein überhaupt erst möglich macht.“ 83
- Déchirure et réconciliation du sujet au prisme de la décoïncidence 105
- Tillichian Courage as Theologically Foundational to the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder 121
- Penser avec Paul Tillich l’horreur et les lueurs d’espérance dans l’Église : cas du Rwanda 133
- Divine Love in Tillich’s Justification Doctrine: Is It Sufficiently Lutheran? 157
- Seinsethiken versus Sollensethiken 165
- The Berlin Crisis and the Defiance of Estrangement 185
- Paul Tillich’s Critique of John F. Dulles’ Commission on a Just and Durable Peace 203
- The Tension in God: Paul Tillich’s Phenomenology of the Idea of God in Systematic Theology 215
- Reviews 229
- Tillich Bibliography 277
- Contributors List 285
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- Versöhnte Gebrochenheit 1
- La réconciliation à l’image du Christ 23
- A World in Need: Brokenness and Reconciliation Explored through Paul Tillich’s Doing of Social Work 45
- « L’étranger » entre aliénation, altération et réconciliation 71
- „Dass das Prinzip der Entgegensetzung nicht aufgehoben werden kann, sondern menschliches Sein überhaupt erst möglich macht.“ 83
- Déchirure et réconciliation du sujet au prisme de la décoïncidence 105
- Tillichian Courage as Theologically Foundational to the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder 121
- Penser avec Paul Tillich l’horreur et les lueurs d’espérance dans l’Église : cas du Rwanda 133
- Divine Love in Tillich’s Justification Doctrine: Is It Sufficiently Lutheran? 157
- Seinsethiken versus Sollensethiken 165
- The Berlin Crisis and the Defiance of Estrangement 185
- Paul Tillich’s Critique of John F. Dulles’ Commission on a Just and Durable Peace 203
- The Tension in God: Paul Tillich’s Phenomenology of the Idea of God in Systematic Theology 215
- Reviews 229
- Tillich Bibliography 277
- Contributors List 285
