Theology on Trial - Kierkegaard and Tillich on the Status of Theology

Soren Kierkegaard sought to clarify what it means to be a Christian. He concluded that a one-on-one relationship with God is required, to encounter the "Absolute Paradox," defined as an immutable being entering into and transforming human history. Kierkegaard's dim view of a systematic Christian theology includes a preoccupation with theological exposition that distracts from the essential task of achieving a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.Alternatively, Paul Tillich's theology is based on a triadic relationship of being, nonbeing and Being-Itself (God), a doctrine of symbols, and a reinterpretation of the Incarnation. It correlates a culture's questions and concerns with the Christian message to certain criteria of acceptability that, to Tillich, must satisfy the "Protestant Principle," stipulating that a theological system both restates the present-time Christian message and acknowledges that this restatement cannot be the definitive, ultimate expression of that message.Theology on Trial presents and assesses whether, and to what degree, Tillich's theology satisfies his own criteria of acceptability. An acceptable theology must be logically consistent and free of equivocation. The concluding section of the book examines the views of each author from the standpoint of the other.Table of ContentPrefaceI Kierkegaard On Christianity And Theology 1 The Absolute Paradox 2 The Stages on Life's Way 3 Selfhood as a Relationship of the Individual to God 4 Christianity Is IncomprehensibleII Tillich On Systematic Theology 5 Requirements for a Systematic Theology 6 The Method of Correlation 7 Three Ontological Levels 8 The Basic Principles of Tillich's Theology 9 Tillich on Symbols 10 The New Being in Jesus as the Christ 11 Immutable Attributes and the Language of Dialogue 12 Biblical Religion and Ontology 13 Does Tillich's Theology Satisfy His Own Criteria of Acceptability?III Kierkegaard versus TillichIndex of NamesIndex of SubjectsBiographical NoteJohn Losee is James Renwick Hogg Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Lafayette College, USA. The best known of his publications is A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, which was translated into twelve languages, and Theories of Causality.