B u l l e t i n of The North American Paul Tillich Society
Volume XXXI, Number 4 Fall 2005 Religious Studies Department Santa Clara University 336 Bannan Hall Santa Clara, CA 95053 PHILOSOPHY Editor: Frederick J. Parrella, Secretary-Treasurer, NAPTS CULTURE THEOLOGY Telephone: 408.554.4714 FAX: 408.554.2387 Email: [email protected] Website: www.NAPTS.org
In this issue: Annual NAPTS Meeting: Schedule and Banquet Information Report of the Tillich Collected Works Project Committee “Paul Tillich and Capital Punishment: The Meaning of Power” by Anne Marie Reijnen On the Calendar ______
Annual Meeting of the North Nerve? American Paul Tillich Society Robison James, University of Richmond The following schedule includes three parts: (1) ses- Symbol Early and Late: Continuity and sions of the NAPTS on Friday, November 18, 2005; Discontinuity between the German and (2) information about the annual banquet on Friday American Tillich night; (3) the schedule of the American Academy of Religion Group, “Tillich: Issues in Theology, Religion Stephen Murray, Skidmore College and Culture.” Paul Tillich and the Wrath of God Bring your Bulletin to the meeting with you for handy reference. Locations are subject to change. NAPTS Sessions 11:00 AM – 1:15 PM (A18–9) And Banquet Loews Philadelphia Hotel Commonwealth C Friday, November 18, 2005 Theme: The Early Tillich Terry O’Keeffe, University of Ulster, Northern
Ireland 9:00 – 10:45 AM (A18–8) Presiding Loews Philadelphia Hotel Jean Richard, University of Laval Commonwealth A2 Theme: Tillich on Symbolism Philosophy of History in Tillich’s Early Writings Doris Lax, University of Heidelberg Christopher Rodkey, Drew University The Tillich of the Years 1911-1913 Presiding Christian Danz, Institute of Systematic Theology, Donald Dreisbach, Northern Michigan University University of Vienna Tillich’s Symbols and Christology: A Failure of Bulletin of the North American Paul Tillich Society Volume 31, number 4 Fall 2005 2
The Influence of Schelling's Philosophy of Annual Banquet (A18–109) History on Paul Tillich's Early Theology of 7:00 – 10:00 pm History Sotto Varalli, Booth Room 231 South Broad Street Matthew Lon Weaver, University of Pittsburgh Religion and Nationalism: Tillich’s First World Our distinguished guest speaker: War Chaplaincy Sermons Ronald H. Stone of the University of Pittsburgh Address: “Reinie and Paulus: Allied Public Theolo- gians.”
The cost of the banquet is $50 and may be paid in 2:00 – 3:45 PM (A18–52) advance or at the banquet. If you pay at the banquet, Loews Philadelphia Hotel please bring a check with the exact cost of the ban- Commonwealth A2 quet with you. Theme: Tillich and Religious Knowledge Please make reservations by contacting: John Thatamanil, Vanderbilt University Prof. Frederick Parrella Presiding Religious Studies Department Mary Ann Stenger, University of Louisville Santa Clara University Experience’s Role in Religious Knowledge Santa Clara, CA 95053 David H. Nikkel, University of North Carolina at 408-554-4714 Pembroke
Todd Mei, University of Kent at Canterbury Saturday, November 19, 2005 Paul Tillich and the Ontological Foundation of
Freedom and Destiny 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM (A19-74) Convention Center 104 Thomas Bandy, Guelph, Ontario Tillich: Issues in Theology, Religion, and Culture “Is That a Prayer?” The Possibility of Worship Group and Theology and Continental Philosophy in Tillich’s Theology of Culture and the Reality Group of Worship in Postmodern Mission Theme: Interrogating Ontotheology: Tillich, Hei- degger, Marion, and Caputo Mary Ann Stenger, University of Louisville North American Paul Tillich Society Presiding Bulletin of the North American Paul Tillich Society Volume 31, number 4 Fall 2005 3
Russell Manning, University of Cambridge Guy Hammond, Virginia Tech Emeritus Beyond Being: Tillich, Marion, and Caputo on Does the Road of Providence Lead to Freedom? Why God Does Not Exist George W. Bush, Paul Tillich, and the Theology of History Martin Gallagher, University of Kansas Tillich and Heidegger on Being Sunday, November 20 2005 Mario Costa, Drew University God-Less Thinking: The Question of Onto- 4:00 PM – 6:30 PM (A20-124) Theology in Heidegger and Tillich Convention Center 106B Tillich: Issues in Theology, Religion, and Culture Anthony J. Godzieba, Villanova University Group Responding Theme: God, Being, and God beyond Being Robison B. James, University of Richmond, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond Saturday, Saturday, November 19, 12005 Presiding 4:00 PM – 6:30 PM (A19-124) John J. Thatamanil, Vanderbilt University Convention Center 104B Why Tillich Is Not (Just) an Ontotheologian: Tillich: Issues in Theology, Religion, and Culture Tillich's Indebtedness to Apophatic Theology Group Theme: Public Theology and Democracy Lois Malcolm, Luther Seminary Darlene Fozard Weaver, Villanova University Mystical and Prophetic: Tillich's Theology of Presiding the God beyond God Reconsidered Marc Krell, University of Arizona Constructing a Public Theology: Tillich and John C. M. Starkey, Oklahoma City University Buber's Movement beyond Protestant and God, Being, Tillich, and Neville Jewish Boundaries in Weimar Germany John D. Caputo, Syracuse University Jonathan Rothchild, Loyola Marymount University Responding Confronting the Powers: Tillich, Stout, and West on Democratic Principles and Procedures AAR Group Business Meeting Loye Ashton, Millsaps College Presiding: Christofascism in America: A Tillichian Robison B. James, University of Richmond, Baptist Analysis of Christian Reconstructionism Theological Seminary at Richmond Mary Ann Stenger, University of Louisville lich Archive, housed in the Andover-Harvard Li- brary at Harvard Divinity School. We are grateful to
Bill Crout who kindly arranged for us to stay in Report of the Tillich Collected Lowell House, just outside Harvard Yard, and with Works Project Committee whom we enjoyed sharing several meals with during Dear Colleagues, our stay. Our work went well, as we shared different areas of in-depth knowledge of Tillich’s works, and At its annual meeting in November, 2004, the we were able to lay out ten 600-750-page volumes, Society appointed Mary Ann Stenger Chair of the based on a chronological organization and a prelimi- Tillich Collected Works Project (TCWP). Mary Ann nary effort to be inclusive of most writings. We did asked Fred Parrella, Ron Stone, John Thatamanil, the initial planning for at least two more volumes. and me, Sharon Burch, to constitute a work group. We created an the outline of the materials that In June of 2005, Mary Ann convened a meeting we know will be included in the volumes. We also of the work group in Cambridge, Massachusetts. have a group of selected manuscripts to translate or Although John Thatamanil and Ron Stone were not check. For example, there were handwritten drafts in able to come, Fred Parrella and I joined her for four the Archive boxes that may be the initial text of arti- days of productive work with material from the Til- cles later assigned a title and published. In addition, Bulletin of the North American Paul Tillich Society Volume 31, number 4 Fall 2005 4 there were typescripts that could be the text for an Additional note from Sharon Burch article that appeared in this collection or that one. on her work in investigating We have taken on the task of determining if these a specific text drafts are identical to the published text or were ed- Our work in Cambridge this summer consisted ited before publication. A number of drafts, both of digging through several extensive bibliographies. handwritten and typed, are undated. Archivists have We found ourselves sometimes at a loss to identify organized them by assigning dates arrived at through the provenance of a document. There were a number educated guess work. We have decided to do all that of articles listed that were short, sometimes less than we can to confirm their chronological place by as- a page. Often we had no context to help us deter- sessing the thrust of the scholarship, language of mine how important this comment might be, what it composition, and our general knowledge of the Til- pertained to and how it related to the body of Til- lich corpus. lich’s work. We worked pretty much non-stop for the four Each of us took home a number of citations to investigate. One that ended up in my pile was enti- tled “Was Soll Mit Deutschland Geschehen?” It was days, but our spirits were high because we could see included in Volume 13 of the Gesammelte Werke, definite progress. We are keenly aware that even and there I found its subtitle to be “a) Gegen Emil with the time that we dedicated to the endeavor, we Ludwigs Neueste Rede.” barely scratched the surface of what needs to be Two things piqued my interest in this short done. We did set basic principles for deciding what piece. One was that a quick read revealed that Til- to include or not, tentative criteria for volume edi- lich’s language was straightforward and uncompro- tors, and beginning editorial decisions, with more mising. Tillich did not soften his critique with the details on those to be presented at the annual meet- qualifications that often characterize his inter- ing in November, 2005. changes. The second was that I couldn’t make sense A major issue is the question of support for this of the English title of Ludwig’s article, “Ludwig project. Augsburg-Fortress, the press we expect to Asks Fight on German People.” It was one of two publish the collected works, suggested that we think English phrases in the piece, and it sounded like one of expenses for the entire project in the range of of my more awkward translations from the German! $300,000 to $400,000. Their estimate is based on the Upon further research, Wikipedia costs of the Bonhoeffer project, a collected works (http://en.wikipedia.org) revealed that Emil Ludwig project that has some similarity to our endeavor. For was born Emil Cohn in 1881, in Breslau. He moved example, it was necessary to hire translators for the to Switzerland in 1906, and during World War I Bonhoeffer German texts, both to check the fidelity worked as a foreign correspondent for the Berliner of the extant translations and to make sure English Tageblatt in Vienna and Istanbul. He studied law, equivalencies to German phrases were consistent but chose a career in writing, and became famous throughout the translated materials. The scholars during the 1920s when he produced biographies that working on the Bonhoeffer project found that the combined historical fact, fiction, and psychological work required a general editor in addition to volume analysis. His biography of Goethe was the first to editors. These scholars received a stipend for their appear, and was widely translated, as was his biog- work. The press has told us that they are prepared to raphy of Bismarck. He became a Swiss citizen in pay for one-time publishing rights for those parts of 1932, and emigrated to the US in 1940. After the the Tillich corpus currently under contract with other end of World War II and his return to Switzerland, publishers. Other than that, we are on our own to he went to Germany as a journalist, and is credited raise funds. with retrieval of Goethe’s and Schiller’s coffins, We have already begun our review of possible which had disappeared from Weimar 1943/44. He funding sources. Your wholehearted support of the died in 1948 in Switzerland. project could be made evident by way of a contribu- On July 6, 1942, the comments to which Tillich tion. Checks should be made out to NAPTS and sent replied appeared in the New York Times. I found a to Fred Parrella at Santa Clara University. copy of the article, which was indeed entitled Sincerely, “Ludwig Asks Fight on ‘German People’,” but as Sharon P. Burch you can see, the phrase “German people” is in sec- ondary quotes. Ludwig quoted a Gallup poll that Bulletin of the North American Paul Tillich Society Volume 31, number 4 Fall 2005 5
showed that 70% of Americans felt that they were against which we the non-Jewish friends of Jews fighting against Hitler and not against the German inside and outside of Germany have fought a hard people. He wanted to disabuse people of that idea. battle for the sake of which many of us are emi- He declared that the German people had a “war pas- grants, this method is now directed against us by a sion” that had led them into two world wars. To pro- Jewish writer. If he is right, then we were wrong; tect the world against them, he recommended that then the possibility is taken from us to go on fight- arms, education and government be taken out of ing. It is the obligation of our Jewish friends to de- their hands by an “army of soldiers and an army of cide this issue. Not much need be said about the first teachers,” none of whom would be German. “Relig- conclusion drawn by Ludwig. Questions about the ion, history, philosophy all teach principles foreign occupation, the transition period, and German dis- to the German character and can only be infused armament are serious political issues which have gradually….” After victory was clear, Ludwig rec- nothing to do with Ludwig’s psychology of the ommended that Germany be indicted for “political Germans and which must be settled by serious po- immaturity,” and this flotilla of teachers and soldiers litical leaders. I am not sure these leaders are going launched to bring about its shift in views. Tillich’s to make the thieves and robbers in Germany happy reply to this article appeared on July 17, 1942 in by appointing only American and English police. Aufbau, a German-Jewish emigrant newspaper pub- Silly, however, is the proposal to send over an army lished in New York. The newspaper was designed to of American teachers to instruct the Germans in provide a forum for an exchange of views about cul- “morality.” To support it Ludwig writes, “Religion, ture, economics, social commentary, and intellectual history, philosophy all teach principles foreign to the trends. It was independent until January of 2005, German character.” when it became a part of Jüdische Medien AG. This sentence—replacing only the word “Ger- I have been able to locate the article written by man” with “Jewish”—can be found in every anti- Frederick Wilhelm Foerster, Professor of Philosophy semitic mudslinging pamphlet. It descends to the and Pedagogy at the University of Munich that ap- same level. It is not worth discussing factually in peared in Aufbau on July 31, 1942 in which he en- view of German mysticism, the Reformation, Leib- gages the Tillich-Ludwig interchange, a further cri- niz, Kant, Goethe, etc. tique by Alfred Kantorowicz of New York City that But in conclusion I want to say one thing. Every appeared on August 7, 1942 with comments by Til- word cited from Ludwig signifies a dishonoring of lich on the same page (Part B of what appears in the many unknown persons who, unlike Ludwig in GS) and, on August 14, 1942, Emil Ludwig’s re- safety reviling the German people rather than living sponse to the exchange. As fascinating as all this is, in daily peril among them, struggled for the soul and I have had to stop. My task was to identify the venue the future of that people. Americans who for years of the piece and determine if it is central to Tillich’s assisted those who thus struggled will be grateful for endeavor, and my research has shown conclusively the assignment to go to them as morality instructors. that to be true. They will ask to hear from them what they have ex- What Should Happen to Germany? perienced in the depth of their suffering and will Against Emil Ludwig’s Newest Speech keep quiet. Gesammelte Werke, volume 13, 278-288; by Paul Tillich Aufbau July 17, 1942. (I am deeply grateful to Durwood Foster for this In the July 6th New York Times, under the head- translation. His help was invaluable.) ing “Ludwig Asks Fight on German People,” a speech by Emil Ludwig is quoted that should cause Paul Tillich and Capital Punishment: all decent German Jews in America to resolutely and The Meaning of Power visibly distance themselves from Ludwig. A state-
ment like “Hitler is Germany” and talk about the Anne Marie Reijnen Germans as “warrior people” is taken from the arse- nal of the most foolish anti-Semitic propaganda, “Whoever condemns anyone to eternal death con- demns himself, because his essence and that of the only this time it is directed not against the Jews, but 1 against the Germans. An evil that appears at a par- other cannot be absolutely separated.” ticular time and in a particular group of a people is Paul Tillich did not write directly about the death penalty, as far as I know. However, he did at- attributed to the entire people. Against this method, tempt to shed some light on a cognate problem: the Bulletin of the North American Paul Tillich Society Volume 31, number 4 Fall 2005 6
meaning of power. It is therefore feasible, I believe, relate the gospel to the public realm.”3 A double to construe a Tillichian criteriology of “just punish- nexus of an almost organic nature existed, unques- ment.” In contrast with a widely held Christian in- tioned, between the two. “Policy and authority, it terpretation of power which identifies it with hubris, was almost universally assumed, were to be legiti- if not outright evil, Tillich’s perspective, in the text mated, authorised and shaped by Christian belief, from the German period that I will analyze, is more and political theory was often seen as little more complex. Also, a sermon in the 1955 collection, The than a satellite of theology. That faith had to do with New Being, shows—as so often with Tillich—the the shaping and guidance of society was assumed fundamental continuity within his thought. But first, almost as universally as is it today in Islamic socie- we must establish the legitimacy of our question ties.”4 (capital punishment) within a theological discourse. That alliance, it seems, has been broken. It has This short paper is part of a larger project tentatively been said that, “the entire western legal tradition has called The Cross and the Sword: A Theological In- been transformed by separating it from its ancient vestigation of Capital Punishment. I start with a few religious foundations.”5 Seeds of this new approach questions. Is it a paradox that one of the world’s were sown long ago. Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), the most overtly “Christian” nations is at the same time Dutch jurist and diplomat of Calvinist origin, has so sanguine about inflicting irreversible punishment, been used to mark a turning point, with his assertion alone among all the other nations of the West? Or is that the postulates of political theory derive from the there, on the contrary, an unspoken link between the principles of reason rather than faith and divine or- two characteristics of the contemporary United der: they are etsi Deus non daretur. “Political com- States of America? If such is the case, we must mitments are now to be bracketed off from one’s search for the symbolic meanings of (ultimate) pun- religious convictions; they belong in the private ishment. In other words, I ask how the many faces of sphere; and public life must now be shaped by some- the Crucified have shaped popular conceptions of thing other than the varying and often conflicting redemptive suffering. Some theologians, like Mark particularities of religious belief.”6 But as Forrester Taylor, believe that the way of the Cross is the anti- is himself quick to point out, “We tend to read back dote to “gulag America.”2 He refers to the work of too easy an account of the cumulative triumph of the René Girard, among others, who contend that the secular.” In 1984, Richard John Neuhaus, a Lutheran passion was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. who was then on the verge of converting to Roman I believe it to be more fruitful and interesting to Catholicism, wrote a controversial book called The explore the ambiguity of the Cross. For the crucifix- Naked Public Square.7 Twenty years later, Mary ion fuels the ‘blood theology’ of much popular relig- Ann Glendon, professor of law at Harvard Univer- ion, yet it also inspires a vision of the sanctity of sity, summarizes what was at stake for Neuhaus: the human life, even in the presence of the enigma of United States, while calling itself a democratic soci- radical evil. But first, a few words about the context ety, was systematically excluding the values of the might be in order: the contemporary debates about majority of its citizens from policy decisions. He the role of religion in the agora of public life. contended that to rule out of bounds in public life 1. What is the proper public use of Christianity? religiously grounded moral beliefs not only does The copula between the judiciary system of a injustice to America’s “incorrigibly religious” citi- nation and Christian “justice,” between political the- zenry but also saps the very foundations of our de- ory and theology, between the conscience of the be- mocratic experiment.8 Reflecting on the work of liever and the public square is highly problematic. Neuhaus, Professor Glendon writes: “State- Tertullian famously (or infamously) asked: “what sponsored secularism, legally tightening its control, has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” We might won- is ever more openly intolerant of rival belief sys- der: what has Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School tems.”9 for political studies to do with the Center of Theo- Speaking broadly, the triumph of the secular or- logical Inquiry? In the past, as Duncan Forrester der over theocracy characterizes the post-French points out in his book Christian Justice and Public revolution, modern state of affairs that now prevails Policy, “a theological approach, or at least an explic- in most western countries. But there is no status quo, itly theological dimension to the discussion, was for this separation is constantly under pressure in a almost universal in western political thought.” great number of western democracies, as shown in Augustine, Aquinas, Luther and Calvin sought “to the few samples of dissenting thought I adduce. In- Bulletin of the North American Paul Tillich Society Volume 31, number 4 Fall 2005 7 deed, different parties attack the constitutional pro- sphere. Both abolitionists and partisans of the reten- visions for various, sometimes opposing reasons: tion of the death penalty, but also criminals and the religion should have even less of a public role, some relatives of their victims and many of those involved say, while others believe that the separation has now in the prison system, not only prison chaplains, fre- gone too far and that the balance of power should be quently use religious categories to interpret crime corrected, in order to allow citizens who also happen and punishment, evil and redemption. Therefore, in to be Muslims or Christians to shape the laws that spite of my sympathy for secularity, I take it to be a rule the state. Regarding the interpretation of the serious challenge for today’s theologians to partici- topic of capital punishment, I believe it is wrong to pate in the ongoing conversation. In spite of the mul- exclude considerations related to the realm of ulti- titude of sometimes strident voices that speak of mate concern. conflicting holy causes and of God’s own armies, we Politics in the United States of America show should resist the temptation to withdraw from the more examples of the resistance of political theory to agora. We should not let only old forces of secular- secularization than Western Europe. On behalf of the ism pitch the battle with the new forces of conserva- majority of the US Supreme Court, Justice William tive and reactionary folk-religion: there must be a O. Douglas wrote, in 1951, “We are a religious peo- third way. I still believe public theology of the more ple, whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Be- progressive kind to be legitimate and effective. Les- ing.”10 Half a century later, many citizens on this sons have been learnt in the meantime. Theology no side of the Atlantic would still think that axiom to be longer views herself as the Queen of the sciences. As an adequate description of their state of mind. Yet Jeffrey Stout argues, “It must take its place among the axiom would be strongly contested by most the other voices, as often to be corrected as to cor- European citizens, as the battle over the preamble of rect.” their new constitution shows. Very recently, it is true 2. Paul Tillich on Power and State, Applied by Us that Alabama chief Justice Roy Moore lost his job to Capital Punishment for refusing the federal court order to remove the The apostle Paul could, prima facie, be taken to monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments defend “law and order,” since he wrote: “Let every from the courthouse in Montgomery. Thus, techni- person be subject to the governing authorities; for cally, his voice is a dissenting one. But it has kept, there is no authority except from God…if you do or regained, a strong popular backing and appeal. wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does Many believe, as Roy Moore said in an interview not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to with Newsweek, that, “The battle is not over—the execute wrath on the wrongdoer.”12 From his early battle to acknowledge God is about to rage across adulthood, Paul Tillich had also grappled with the the country.” If he is elected governor of Alabama, problem of a more or less strong State and the role Moore will “defend the right of every citizen of this of Christianity within, or above, such a State. In a state, including judges, coaches, teachers, city, lecture from 1929 called “Constraint and Freedom in county and state officials, to acknowledge God as Social Life. The Philosophy of Power,” given for the sovereign source of law, liberty and govern- two local Kant societies, he offers insights that in ment.”11 As for international relations, the explicitly my judgment are relevant to our discussion of the religious self-understanding of the mission of the death penalty, albeit indirectly.13 Tillich here applies current president is probably the element that most a highly speculative, ontological grid to the discus- alienates even former European allies of the United sion, similar to the method used in his much later States. work, Love, Power and Justice. Ontological Analy- One of my quandaries in discussing the death ses and Ethical Applications.14 The continuity in penalty as a theologian is that, on the one hand, I Tillich’s thinking about power is manifest. In 1955, favour a stricter separation of the State and its judi- in his sermon about Romans 8, “Principalities and cial system and God, theology, the Scriptures, and Powers,” Tillich uses the language of myth to ana- the churches on the other. Tolerance and pluralism lyse the power of power. on the ground require the strict neutrality of the State Another principality, angelic and demonic at the in matters of religion. Yet religious interpretations, same time, is power. It has the severe manly especially relating to guilt and retribution, seem to beauty that we see in some pictures of the great resist those forces that would separate the realms of archangels. It is itself a great angel, good and profane, pluralist society and the confessional evil, just as love is a mighty principality, and it Bulletin of the North American Paul Tillich Society Volume 31, number 4 Fall 2005 8
is the builder and protector of cities and nations, To be part of society is to possess power and to a creative force in every human enterprise, in recognize it. Nor is it possible to conceive of our- every human community, in every human selves first as individuals who hold no power for to achievement. It is responsible for the conquest the extent that we are, we have power.20 The most of nature, the organization of states, the execu- fundamental recognition in our social being is tion of justice.… World history is the realm in geared towards the Law (Rechtsmächtigkeit): it is which the reign of the angel of power is most the recognition that is identical with our being ac- manifest in all its glory and in all its tragedy.15 cepted into the sphere of freedom. Such acceptance Part of the difficulty for any translator of the occurs in two manners: the first sets limits on our 1929 lecture resides in the profusion of German own “powerfulness.” Here, we acknowledge others nouns, related but subtly different. The basic polar- as parts of the social order, in a formal way, beings ity, in my opinion, is force as power and authority who are endowed with reason, and in a “pathetic” (Macht) and force as violence and authority (Ge- way, all those who have the countenance of human walt). The English word “power” encompasses those beings; or in legal terms, personhood.21 The second two dimensions of authority and of violence, as ap- manner excludes a large number of these from the pears from a conference given in 1956, “Shadow and capacity of determining one’s own being, classically, Substance: The Price and Opportunity of Power.”16 women and slaves. Persons such as these are not just Power (Macht) is the place where constraints find “disenfranchised” members of society: in fact, they their origin, and it enters into tension with freedom. do not belong to society. Rather, they are objects at But since this is an ontological essay, Tillich has to the disposal of society or its members. This goes to probe deeper and ask whether it is not a characteris- establish once more, according to Tillich, the defini- tic of being to possess power. Power is not some- tion of power: it is the combination of recognition thing that has been added on to our experience like and being within society.22 Now the form of power newspapers or broadcasting, Tillich declares: we that pertains to a social group is the “state-like” (das must take into account the possibility that to think of Staatliche). Groups always possess a structure that is being is to think at the same time of power.17 To be “statelike,” but the State proper is a separate struc- is in fact the power to be, which he calls powerful- ture that has acquired autonomous meaning, and ness (Mächtigkeit), that is the capacity of being-with which could also cease to exist.23 and the power to differentiate oneself from other To summarize what Tillich has done thus far: forms of being. To be, then, is to actively differenti- power is the realization of freedom, as being-in soci- ate oneself (sich aktiv abheben), by dint of a specific ety. The condition for such positive appraisal is that powerfulness, from being sucked into mere being- the notion of powerfulness (Mächtigkeit) be diffused togetherness.18 This dynamic is relative, always de- with meaning and that it be coupled with the ac- pending on the other: a tree differentiates itself dif- knowledgment of limits. Now we may wonder what ferently amidst the forest or in the middle of a field. defines the antithetical figure (“bad power,” as it Being realizes itself relatively to Being-With.19 In were). That is the topic of the following paragraph Tillich’s view, “power” is not a perversion in itself; about power-as-violence (Gewalt). ontologically, “Power as powerfulness in the sphere Violence is power imposed, in the face of its re- of freedom is always meaningful powerfulness fusal, resulting in the depletion of powerfulness (i.e., (sinnhafte Mächtigkeit).” Examples of such mean- capacity) of the other. Violence can come forth from ingful powerfulness might be the greatness of artistic an individual who resists his or her obligation to par- form, the clarity of scientific analysis or the profun- tially renounce power, that is, to recognize con- dity of religious proclamation, but these are not the straints and acknowledge limits, thus betraying the expressions favoured by Tillich in this context. The original meaning of licit powerfulness.24 In such a idea as pure thought is powerless. It receives power case, it is the collective body of society that will through the process of entering into and uniting with counteract by imposing the power that supersedes a form of being (Seinsgestalt), through the marriage, the individual. One may extrapolate from this point in other words, of ideality and reality. Such a mar- and venture that this represents the justification of riage is to be seen in Marx and socialism, according the repression of violent crime by the judiciary, os- to this 1929 paper. Power is now understood as the tensibly acting on behalf of the common good. But coming together of powerfulness and meaning, in Tillich goes on to describe another kind of violence, the sphere of freedom. perpetrated by the group that is invested with power. Bulletin of the North American Paul Tillich Society Volume 31, number 4 Fall 2005 9
When, betraying the original meaning of this power, and to resist it is the expression of a higher power- they exploit their position and pervert it to a sense- fulness. less powerfulness, such actions also cause counter- Every act of violence breeds violence through action, namely resistance of various kinds. Resis- resistance. That could only be avoided if the mean- tance includes the inner refusal to submit to tyranny ingfulness of power were manifest in every moment (“inner exile”) and external revolutionary reaction. of actualisation of power. Such is not the case, tragi- In the life of nations, the measuring stick is Be- cally. Yet, we continue to seek meaning amidst the ing endowed with power and meaning struggle for power. It cannot be counted on and it is (selbstmächtig and sinntragend); violence is that constantly being corrupted. Because of the dynamic which opposes those two elements. In nature, spe- nature of reality, this tragic cannot be avoided, be- cifically the animal kingdom, this intention (mean- cause reality has to unfold itself in the act.26 ingfulness) is lacking and cannot be betrayed. Al- What is the public use of Christianity? Surely it though all living beings live off others, non-human is not the one described by justice Roy Moore, to animals are incapable of violence as defined above, form a coalition of all those who see God as the since they can neither acknowledge power and source of law, liberty and government. But Chris- meaning nor refuse to do so. tians cannot excuse themselves from the debate in 3. Is There a Case against Capital Punishment? the public square concerning crime and punishment. We now arrive at a crucial part of Tillich’s They might join the forces that advocate the aboli- analysis, from which an application to today’s prob- tion of capital punishment. Next, such coalitions of lem of capital punishment may not be altogether far- people of good will must examine the alternatives, fetched. Violence is the use of power to the extent some of which are not desirable. Sentences for life- that the powerfulness of the other is depleted, lead- long imprisonment without parole may spell out a ing to a depletion of being itself, for the original fate akin to death, beyond hope of redemption in the meaning is corrupted. Therefore, violence in fact here and now, forever cutting off human beings from manifests the limits of power in the very power that the possibility of becoming part of society again. resorts to violence. Tillich gives the following ex- We are reminded of Tillich’s warning: “whoever ample, which was very pertinent in the interbellum: condemns anyone to eternal death condemns him- the extermination of a conquered people yields less self, because his essence and that of the other cannot power, even for the victors, than their integration be absolutely separated”. into a greater power structure. The reason for this, according to Tillich, is that you cannot exterminate 1 Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology, vol. III (Chi- the powerfulness (Mächtigkeit) of a living entity. cago : The University of Chicago Press, 1963), 409 The meaning that pertained to it and transformed its 2 Mark Taylor, The Executed God. The Way of the powerfulness into power can never be annihilated.25 Cross in Lockdown America (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, It will continue to manifest itself by purely negative 2001). resistance. Sabotage by the oppressed persists even 3 Duncan B. Forrester, Christian Justice and Public after their physical obliteration, Tillich believes, for, Policy (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, in mythical terms, their “spirit” (Geist) will haunt 1997), 10f the victors, ultimately undermining the power of the 4 Ibid. 12 latter. If we accept this premise, we shall say that the 5 Ibid., 13 violence committed against death row inmates (the 6 Ibid., 15 detention preparatory to execution and the death 7 Richard John Neuhaus, The Naked Public Square: penalty itself) is destructive of them but equally de- Religion and Democracy in America (Grand Rapids, MI: stroys the powerful, and maybe the entire social fab- Eerdmans, 1984) ric. The agent of violent repression possesses con- 8 Mary Ann Glendon, “The Naked Public Square siderable powerfulness but lacks the meaning that Now: A Symposium,” First Things 147 (November would persuade and which, in the sphere of freedom, 2004), 3. is the only means that makes acknowledgement pos- 9 Ibid. sible. The need to exercise violence in spite of a lack 10 Ibid. of meaning is ultimately a cause of distress for all. 11 The New York Times, Tuesday October 4, 2005 Therefore, says Tillich, it is wrong to interpret paci- 12 Romans 13: 1-4 ( NRSV) fism as a sign of weakness. For to renounce violence Bulletin of the North American Paul Tillich Society Volume 31, number 4 Fall 2005 10
13 “Zwang und Freiheit im sozialen Leben (Philoso- In addition to the discussion of the subject phie der Macht),” November 1929, in Religion, Kultur, named above, there will also be a discussion of Til- Gesellschaft, Unveröffentlichte Texte aus der deutschen lich’s understanding of religion. Spontaneous dis- Zeit (1908-1933), 2. Teil, Ergänzungs-und Nachlassbände cussion on this subject is invited. zu den Gesammelten Werken XI. Berlin and New York: We recommend the following text as preparation Walter de Gruyter, 1999. for this discussion: Paul Tillich, Philosophy of Re- 14 1954, Main Works/Haupt Werke, Vol. 3, Writings ligion, GW, ed. R. Albrecht, Vol. 1, Early Works in Social Philosophy and Ethics, edited by Erdmann (Stuttgart 1959), 297-364. Sturm (New York and Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1998), Since the number of participants must be limited 538-650 we urge those interested to apply as soon as possi- 15 Paul Tillich, The New Being (New York: Charles ble. Write to: Scribner’s Son, 1955), 55 16 In James Luther Adams, ed., Paul Tillich, Political Prof. Dr. Christian Danz Expectations, translated by James Luther Adams, Victor Institute for Systematic Theology Nuovo, et al., with an introduction by James Luther Ad- Protestant Theology ams (New York: Harper and Row, 1971), 115-124 University of Vienna 17 …sondern wir rechnen mit der Möglichkeit, daß Rooseveltplace 10 wenn wir das Sein ganz rein denken, bloß als Sein, wir Austria 1090 Vienna dann Macht mitdenken müssen (234) email: [email protected] 18 “Sein heisst also: sich aktiv gegenüber dem Eingesogenwerden durch das Mitsein in einer bestimmten Mächtigkeit abheben” (235) 19 Ibid., 236 20 Ibid., 240 21 Ibid. 22 Ibid., 241 23 Ibid., 242 24 Ibid., 244 25 Ibid., 245 26 Ibid., 247.
On the Calendar
Deutsche Paul-Tillich-Gesellschaft International Ph.D. Colloquium on Paul Tillich
The German Paul Tillich Society will meet from 27 to 29 January 2006 in an international Collo- quium of Ph.D.’s at the Protestant Theological Fac- ulty of the University of Vienna. All those who have concentrated upon the thought of Paul Tillich in their doctoral dissertations, past or present, are wel- come. In this way all aspects of Paul Tillich’s thought will be discussed. The Colloquium will be chaired by the substitute chairman of DPTG, Professor Christian together with the Chairman of DPTG Prof Werner Schussler (Professor of Philosophy at the Theological Faculty Trier) and Prof Erdmann Sturm (Protestant Theo- logical Faculty University of Munster).
Bulletin of the North American Paul Tillich Society Volume 31, number 4 Fall 2005 11
A Reminder: Dues for the 2005 Year were due with the Summer Issue. Please send your dues to the Secretary Treasurer at your earliest convenience, or, if you are attending the annual meeting in Philadelphia, you may give it to him in person. Thank you very much. Coming in the Winter Bulletin:
• The Report from the annual meeting in Philadelphia and the new officers of the NAPTS • The Banquet Address by Professor Ron Stone • The Papers from the Meeting of the Society
Please note: if you are presenting a paper in Philadelphia, please send it via email or disk to the secretary treasurer for publication in Volume 32 (2006) of the NAPTS Bulletin. Thank you. Bulletin of the North American Paul Tillich Society Volume 31, number 4 Fall 2005 12 The Officers of the North American Paul Tillich Society
President Matthew Lon Weaver, University of Pittsburgh President Elect Terence O’Keeffe, University of Ulster Vice President Ron Stone, University of Pittsburgh Secretary Treasurer Frederick J. Parrella, Santa Clara University Past President John Thatamanil, Vanderbilt University Board of Directors
Term Expiring 2005 Doris Lax, Deutsche Paul-Tillich-Gesellschaft Ron MacLennan, Bethany College Stephen Butler Murray, Skidmore College Term Expiring 2006 Loye Ashton, Millsaps College Rachel Sophia Baard, Villanova University Sharon Peebles Burch, San Rafael, California Jonathan Rothchild, University of Chicago Term Expiring 2007 Kelton Cobb, Hartford Seminary Jean Richard, Association Paul Tillich d’Éxpression Française Darlene F. Weaver, Villanova University