Theology of Culture (review)

302 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY Karl Barth's theological interpretation of this God. It is, of course, well known that Barth and his followers have not been greatly impressed by these efforts. Yet other minds, less extreme than Barth, have been impressed, as Tillich's widespread influence testifies. It is not possible within the space of this mainly philosophical review to give any adequate account of the manifold qualities of Tillich's theological thinking. Suffice it to say that his work appears as a new and significant statement of theological liberalism, which in the opinion of this reviewer succeeds where the old liberalism failed. Tillich succeeds because he takes in full seriousuess both of the terms which liberal theology seeks to reconcile, namely Christian faith and the contemporary world, or as he has put it the kerygma and the situation. It is equally impossible to do justice to the numerous other elements which form significant parts of Tillich's synthesis, ranging as they do from his theory of symbols to his ethical philosophy, his interest in world religions, and his philosophy, or as he calls it his theology, of culture, or indeed to the brilliance of the mind that lies behind this many sided achievement . Suffice it then to say that Systematic Theology III does at last express what Paul Tillich has to say. It is therefore the definitive statement of his thought and life. JOHN A. HuTcmso.~ Claremont Graduate School Theology o] Culture. By Paul Tillich. (New York, Oxford University Press, 1964. Pp. ix -[213 . GB 124. $1A5.) "Religion is... ultimate concern, and this is manifest in all creative functions of the human spirit" (p. 8) ; "Religion is not a special function of man's spiritual life, but it is the dimension of depth in all of its functions" (pp. 5--6). Professor Tillich, in his Theology of Culture, means to show this religious dimension in man's free cultural activity, as distinct from any "ecclesiastical control of cultural creativity" (p. v). The book was first published in 1959 and appears now in paperback; it contains twelve essays, eleven of which have been published previously. These essays are arranged under four headings: basic considerations, concrete applications, cultural comparisons, and conclusion. Most interesting is essay no. II, The Two Types o] Philosophy o] Religion (1946), in which the author sketches the "two ways of approaching God," that of the ontological method ("overcoming estrangement") and that of the cosmological method ("meeting a stranger"), as they have worked themselves out in the history of western thought. Those not familiar with the three-volume Systematic Theology can find here in a nutshell the philosophical--and theological--position of Dr. Tillich, which is at the basis of his own ontological philosophy of religion. Taking the deus est esse as the answer to the problem of the relation of "the two Absolutes" (God and Being)--whereby "God" indicates the pr/us of everything that has being--Dr. Tillich states that man, by his "ontological awareness" as awareness of the unconditional (and the conditioned at the same time), cannot escape an "ultimate concern" in his life with regard to this unconditional. The thinker, on the basis of this ontological certainty, can arrive through reflection at the source of being (ontology), and can develop on this ground an "existential" thinking on faith (theology). He also will be able to recognize and study each particular ultimate concern which is at the basis of every cultural creation. In this way, it is possible to recognize the unconscious theological character of any cultural creation (theology of culture). For Dr. Tillich, secular culture like atheism is in essence impo~ible, because "both presuppose the unconditional element and both express ultimate concerns" (p. 27). Essay no. IV, Aspects oJ a Religious Analysis o] Culture (1956), applies this in the case of Christianity, which claims "the creation of a new reality within and under the conditions of man's predicament" (p. 40). Here in particular, "religion is the substance of culture, culture is the form of religion" (p. 42), so that in the "style" of a culture can be read the immediate expression of that culture's ultimate concern. As to contemporary culture, its...