Der Band enthalt die bisher unveroffentlichten Manuskripte der Vorlesungen, die der Privatdozent Paul Tillich vom Wintersemester 1920/21 bis zum Wintersemester 1923/24 an der Theologischen Fakultat der Berliner Universitat gehalten hat. Ihr Thema ist die Geschichte des philosophischen Denkens von den Vorsokratikern bis zur Aufklarung unter besonderer Berucksichtigung der altchristlichen und mittelalterlichen Philosophie. Tillich behandelt den traditionellen Stoff der Philosophiegeschichte nach der von ihm in seiner Idee der Geisteswissenschaft begrundeten metalogischen Methode, einer theonomen Erkenntnistheorie. Die Vorlesungen zeigen Sinn und Reichweite dieser Methode und stellen Konkretionen seines Programms einer Theologie der Kultur dar."

This book is a volume in the Penn Press Anniversary Collection. To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, the University of Pennsylvania Press rereleased more than 1,100 titles from Penn Press's distinguished backlist from 1899-1999 that had fallen out of print. Spanning an entire century, the Anniversary Collection offers peer-reviewed scholarship in a wide range of subject areas.

In this volume, the third and last of his "Systematic Theology," Paul Tillich sets forth his ideas of the meaning of human life, the doctrine of the Spirit and the church, the trinitarian symbols, the relation of history to the Kingdom of God, and the eschatological symbols. He handles this subject matter with powerful conceptual ability and intellectual grace.
The problem of life is ambiguity. Every process of life has its contrast within itself, thus driving man to the quest for unambiguous life or life under the impact of the Spritual Presence. The Spritual Presence conquers the negativities of religion, culture, and morality, and the symbols anticipating Eternal Life present the answer to the problem of life.

This book presents Paul Tillich at his very best--brief, clear, stimulating, provocative. Speaking with understanding and force, he makes a basic analysis of love, power, and justice, all concepts fundamental in the mutual relations of people, of social groups, and of humankind to God. His concern is to penetrate to the essential, or ontological foundation of the meaning of each of these words and thus save them from the vague talk, idealism, cynicism, and sentimentality with which they are usually treated. The basic unity of love, power, and justice is affirmed and described in terms that are fresh and compelling.

Dr. Tillich shows here that in spite of the contrast between philosophical and biblical language, it is neither necessary nor possible to separate them from each other. On the contrary, all the symbols used in biblical religion drive inescapably toward the philosophical quest for being. An important statement of a great theologian's position, this book presents an eloquent plea for the essential function of philosophy in religious thought.