The Ethics of Paul Tillich

It seems rare that an author is able to claim, in good conscience, that their book achieves a first of any kind. But with The Ethics of Paul Tillich, Ronald H. Stone’s back-cover claim that it is the “first book-length study of Paul Tillich’s ethics,” is one of those rare instances where the claim is actually true. In this collection of essays, eight of which were previously published, Stone combines his years of experience teaching Tillich’s social ethics and his expertise on the thought of Tillich to provide readers with insight into his life and ethical thought.

Stone’s book is useful for anyone with great interest in the life of Paul Tillich and the ways in which the events of the First and Second World Wars influenced his thought and career. Many of the chapters in the book, particularly chapter 1,“Ethics and Morals,” chapter 2, “Conversations in Religious Socialist Circles,” and chapter 7, “Power in the Context of American Empire,” serve as small biographies of Tillich’s life around the time of the Wars and underscore the socialist climate of the middle of the 20^th century. While the first two chapters of the book read like short biographies highlighting different aspects of Tillich’s ethical influence, chapters three and four, “Tillich and Niebuhr on the Jewish Question” and “Protestantism and Marxism,” focus on Tillich’s own writing (in the case of Chapter 4) and those with whom he was in conversation with at the time, especially Niebuhr (in the case of chapter 3). For anyone who hopes to find a companion to Tillich’s three-volume Systematic Theology, this could be a book worth having on the shelf. Stone references the work in a few of the chapters, but one will find that many of the themes that appear within the Systematic are also given attention in these chapters, such as “dreaming innocence,” “the Protestant Principle,” and Kairos (right or opportune timing).

While some of the chapters can feel disorganized because of their ordering in the volume, particularly with jarring time jumps and changes in subject (though this is rare), the overall organization of the chapters is commendable. Instead of following a chronological order, Stone organizes his book in a thematic way that feels organic as you read through it, from a general understanding of ethics and morality through Immanuel Kant, to Tillich’s own community and support of his Jewish neighbors, into questions around Marxism and the First World War as well as ecumenism and politics. The book ends with a particularly exceptional chapter detailing Tillich’s influence on students and others in his communities, even an unexpected Hillary Clinton, while also exploring the theme of agape in Tillich’s own life and thought, which he himself emphasizes in his writings. The ending also raises some concerns about Tillich’s personal life. One does not need to spend much time studying Tillich to learn of his adultery (what some call his “womanizing”). The final chapter does not shy away from this side of Tillich’s life; it also pays special attention to the words of his wife, Hannah Tillich, and the pain both she and Paul felt in their marriage. The chapter does not condemn one more than the other, nor does it excuse their troubled behaviors. (For more on this, Stone directs our attention to Hannah’s book From Time to Time.) This is helped by the fact that Stone was able to have personal conversations with Hannah and others who knew them both well.

The themes explored in this book should be of interest to anyone who wishes to engage the study of both ethics and the life of PaulTillich. I believe this book has the ability to teach anyone who picks it up not only about Tillich’s ethics but about living a life of morality, however imperfectly, grounded in religious ethics.

Regan Hardeman is a PhD Student at the Boston University School of Theology.

Regan Hardeman

Date Of Review:

May 20, 2022