Paul Tillich’s Philosophy of Culture, Science, and Religion by James Luther Adams (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 675 or Analysis and Synthesis," is a 16-page lecture delivered in Paris in 1921. The remaining items are fairly brief notes or jottings on various problems such as modem unbelief, Catholicism and science, degrees of scientific certainty in the idea of evolution, and the religious value of research. Practically all of the lectures have been published previously, but this is the first time they appear together and in English translation. The Catholic University of America Washington, D. C. WILLIAM A. WALLACE, 0. P. Paul Tillich's Philosophy of Culture, Science, and Religion. By JAMES LuTHER ADAMS. New York: Schocken Books, 1970. Pp. 310. $2.95. This first Schocken paperback of a book which was published initially in 1965 is a most welcome edition since it makes more available a work that has come to be considered the outstanding introduction to Paul Tillich. As a revision of Adams's 1945 doctoral dissertation at the University of Chicago, the book is restricted to Tillich's writings prior to 1945, most of which were in German. Forced to leave Germany because of his work with the Religious Socialist Movement and opposition to Naziism, Tillich and his family came to New York in 1933. There he taught at Union Theological Seminary until 1955 and wrote several works in English up to the time of his death in 1965. Many of these works deal with the same themes of his earlier writings in a developed form. As the author points out, the contents of this book can be adequately appreciated only in relation to the broad spectrum of Tillich's writings. These include in his philosophy of culture such themes as social ethics, religious socialism, political theory, psychotherapy, and education, not to mention his writings on theology and Church life. Adams's work, however , does provide a most helpful background to the understanding of Tillich's total contribution to the development of Christian thought. The detailed bibliography of works by and about Tillich from 1910-1945 is invaluable to anyone who wishes to examine his ideas more thoroughly. The contents of this book cover the fundamental areas of Tillich's quest for a new language to express the Christian message in the context of contemporary culture as well as the basic concepts by which he interprets that message in its religious relevance to the reality of a secular age. Dr. Adams considers in some detail Tillich's theology of art and culture, his philosophical classification of the sciences, and his philosophy of religion. In his introduction to the concluding chapter concerning Tillich's understanding of the relationship between philosophy and theology he observes: " According to Tillich, philosophy is a theory of the principles of meaning; philosophy of religion deals with these principles of meaning, relating them 676 BOOK REVIEWS to a theory of the essence of religion; and theology provides a normative system of religion based on the classical symbols of a particular confession." Such a summation is characteristic of the author's ability to expose clearly and succinctly the essential aspects of Tillich's thought. At the same time he offers the reader a firm foundation for studying his thought with a sound critical sense. In his last lecture, delivered shortly before he died, Paul Tillich recalled his life-long quest for a new theonomy, i.e., the situation in which religion gives true depth and ultimate meaning to the existing culture and cultural forms provide the patterns for a meaningful expression of religious convictions. This quest especially identifies the apologetical task of his monumental Systematic Theology which he intended to be a dialogue with and against the individuals of our secularized society. In its paperback edition Dr. Adams's book promises to bring more readers toward a deeper understanding of Tillich's theological enterprise and to inspire contemporary theologians in their efforts at meeting the continual challenge of relating Christian revelation to the cultural conditions of our time. Dominican House of Studies Washington, D. C. FREDERICK M. JELLY, 0. P. Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction. By ELIOT DEUTSCH. Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1969. Pp. 119. $6.00. This is one of the most impressive books in Indian thought to...