Paul Tillich’s Critique of John F. Dulles’ Commission on a Just and Durable Peace
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Ronald Stone
Abstract
Comparing the rival visions of Paul Tillich and John Foster Dulles, this essay provides a survey and analysis of the intersection of key political and theological debates during World War II. Particular attention is given to the Dulles ‘Commission for a Just and Durable Peace’ and Tillich’s 1943 lectures. which both contributed to and challenged the Commission’s assumptions and quest for justice and peace. By 1943, The Federal Council of Churches’ Commission on a Just and Durable Peace, under the strong leadership of John Foster Dulles, had completed its preliminary work. The Commission invited Paul Tillich to deliver three lectures to help shape the Commission’s theological work. Though Dulles’ strong hand guided the work of the Commission, he realized his inability to do the theological work that the Commission needed. The work of the Commission never took the shape consistent with either John C. Bennett or Reinhold Niebuhr, but their influence is seen in the invitation to Tillich. Signs of Tillich’s lectures are also not apparent in the work of the Commission. His three lectures remained obscure until I found them in the Tillich Archives of the Andover-Harvard Library at Harvard Divinity School. They were handwritten, and Dr. Mutie Tillich Farris resisted publishing them until I persuaded her they were really against the grain of Dulles’ work and could help us better understand Tillich.
Abstract
Comparing the rival visions of Paul Tillich and John Foster Dulles, this essay provides a survey and analysis of the intersection of key political and theological debates during World War II. Particular attention is given to the Dulles ‘Commission for a Just and Durable Peace’ and Tillich’s 1943 lectures. which both contributed to and challenged the Commission’s assumptions and quest for justice and peace. By 1943, The Federal Council of Churches’ Commission on a Just and Durable Peace, under the strong leadership of John Foster Dulles, had completed its preliminary work. The Commission invited Paul Tillich to deliver three lectures to help shape the Commission’s theological work. Though Dulles’ strong hand guided the work of the Commission, he realized his inability to do the theological work that the Commission needed. The work of the Commission never took the shape consistent with either John C. Bennett or Reinhold Niebuhr, but their influence is seen in the invitation to Tillich. Signs of Tillich’s lectures are also not apparent in the work of the Commission. His three lectures remained obscure until I found them in the Tillich Archives of the Andover-Harvard Library at Harvard Divinity School. They were handwritten, and Dr. Mutie Tillich Farris resisted publishing them until I persuaded her they were really against the grain of Dulles’ work and could help us better understand Tillich.
Chapters in this book
- 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
Chapters in this book
- 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
