Religious Internationalism

by Weaver, Matthew Lon

• ISBN13: 9780881461886
• ISBN10: 0881461881
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-01
• Publisher: Mercer Univ Pr

Summary

This book assembles and assesses for the first time the ethics of war and peace in the writings of Paul Tillich. It sketches the evolution of Tillich's thought from the period of his service in the German Imperial Army through the time of the Cold War using the full range of Tillich's corpus, from lectures and occasional articles to theological treatises, from political and social theory to sermons and radio addresses, from systematic theology to philosophy of history. It begins by analyzing Tillich's theological roots and his World War I chaplaincy sermons as the starting point for his thoughts on power and nationalism. Then, Religious Internationalism looks to his post-war turn to socialist thought and his participation in religious socialism, fueling his cultural analyses and culminating in his forced emigration under Hitler. Next, the work probes the transitional, American interwar period, giving special attention to his self-described boundary perspective as well as to the one treatise he wrote on religion and international affairs. It then devotes significant attention to his Voice of America speeches, written and broadcasted into his former homeland during World War II. The book then considers Tillich's message to his English-speaking audience of that period, emphasizing social and world reconstruction. With history's turn to the Cold War period and Tillich's apparently lessening interest in political and social theory and interpretation of history, the discussion then points to his commitment to paths toward personhood in a bipolar world. Finally, the book constructs Tillich's ethics of war and peace as an ethic of religious internationalism, suggesting adjustments intended to give it more universal significance. The study concludes that Tillich's thought has provocative contributions to make to debates regarding civilizational conflict, economics and international justice, trade and globalization, the defense of unprotected minorities, and immigration policy.

Author Biography

Matthew Lon Weaver has been an ordained minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA) since 1987, now co-pastor, with Robyn Weaver, of Glen Avon Presbyterian Church, Duluth, Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 9
Tillich as Religious Internationalist	p. 9
Religion and Political Philosophy	p. 10
Political Theory	p. 10
Ethics	p. 11
Theology of Culture	p. 12
Religious Socialism	p. 14
War and Nationalism	p. 18
Interreligious Dialogue	p. 20
Specific Social Issues	p. 23
Religious Internationalism	p. 26
Prewar and World War I-Pious Nationalist	p. 30
Introduction	p. 30
Schelling and the Construction of the History of Religions	p. 32
World War I Chaplaincy Sermons	p. 35
Christian Piety: Matters of Doctrine and Practice	p. 36
Soldierly Qualities	p. 43
The Fatherland and Sacrifice	p. 45
War, Peace, and Reconciliation	p. 49
Power and Weakness	p. 51
Sturm and MacLennan	p. 54
Political-Theological Framework: Luther	p. 57
Conclusion	p. 62
The Religious-Socialist Theologian of Culture	p. 64
Introduction	p. 64
Religious-Socialist Theologian of Culture	p. 67
"On the Idea on a Theology of Culture"	p. 68
Christianity and Socialism Lecture	p. 70
Additional Core Concepts	p. 72
Bridging the Sacred and the Secular	p. 79
Faith and Realism	p. 79
The Holy and the Profane	p. 80
Christianity and Social Structure	p. 82
Critical and Creative Protestantism	p. 84
Culture in General-Politics in Particular	p. 91
The Religious Situation	p. 91
The Socialist Decision	p. 95
Conclusion	p. 104
Forced Intellectual Émigré-American Interwar Period	p. 107
Introduction	p. 107
The Boundary Position	p. 108
Interpreter of the German and European Situation	p. 113
Europe and the United States	p. 113
Downfall of Church and Country	p. 115
The Future Relationship with the Jewish People	p. 118
Religious Socialist Interpreter of History	p. 119
History and the Kingdom of God	p. 119
Church and State	p. 124
Biblical Tradition and Marxism	p. 127
Religion and World Politics	p. 130
Introduction	p. 131
The Concept of World	p. 133
Religion and the Concept of World	p. 139
Conclusion	p. 142
World War II-Tillich's Message to His Audience in Germany: The Voice of America Speeches	p. 144
Introduction	p. 144
Cultural Renewal	p. 148
The German Cultural Inheritance	p. 148
Nazism's Attack Upon Culture	p. 152
Renovation of German Culture	p. 159
Guilt	p. 162
Freedom, Politics, and Resistance	p. 167
Freedom and Politics	p. 167
Resistance	p. 171
Justice and Economics	p. 175
Nationalism and World Community	p. 180
Nationalism	p. 180
World Community	p. 186
Conclusion	p. 189
World War II-Tillich's Message to His Audience in the United States: Social Renewal and International Reconstruction	p. 191
Introduction	p. 191
Philosophy of History	p. 191
General Comments	p. 191
Cultural Disintegration	p. 194
The Jewish People	p. 198
Protestantism and Its Principle(s)	p. 200
Postwar Reconstruction	p. 208
The Religiously Socialistic Spirit	p. 208
Social Renewal	p. 211
The Religiously International Spirit	p. 214
International Organization	p. 219
Conclusion	p. 223
The Cold War: Venturing Courage in the Face of Historical Vacuum	p. 225
Introduction	p. 225
Vacuum and Estrangement	p. 232
Historical Vacuum as a Result of Inner Disintegration	p. 232
Human Anxiety in the Face of Estrangement from Human Essence	p. 234
Bases for Hope and Healing	p. 241
The Boundary Perspective	p. 241
Utopia, Kairos, and Movement toward Reunion	p. 244
Love, Power, and Justice	p. 257
Venturing Courage	p. 263
Conclusion	p. 270
Religious Internationalism: Ethics of War and Peace	p. 272
Construction	p. 272
Tillich's Ethics: Ethical Theory and Moral Act	p. 272
Religious Internationalism Embraces Religion, Power, and History	p. 277
Religious Internationalism Confronts Idolatry and Ideology	p. 279
Religious Internationalism Practices Ethics and Justice from the Boundary	p. 279
Critique	p. 282
The Boundary: Boundary Theologian and Boundary Crosser	p. 283
Culture and Meaning-Giving Substance	p. 286
Kairos and Ethics	p. 289
"World": Marx, Capitalism, Globalization	p. 294
The Jewish People: Time and Space	p. 296
Contemporary Relevance	p. 298
Conclusion	p. 300
Bibliography	p. 304
Index	p. 336
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