The North American Paul Tillich Society

The North American Paul Tillich Society is dedicated to the study of the thought of Paul Tillich (1886-1965) and the application of his works to other areas of human knowledge.

The 2013 Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting of the North American Paul Tillich Society will take place in Baltimore, Maryland, November 22nd and 23rd, 2013. The meeting will be held in conjunction with the American Academy of Religion, November 23rd to 26th.

NAPTS Call for Papers, Baltimore Meeting, 2013

The North American Paul Tillich Society (NAPTS) welcomes proposals for its annual meeting that will take place Friday and Saturday, 22–23 November 2013 in connection with the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) in Baltimore, Maryland, 23–26 November 2012. We welcome proposals for individual papers and panels on the following issues:

1. Tillich’s Systematic Theology after 50 Years: Construction and Contribution
2. The Appropriation of Tillich by Liberation Theology
3. Tillich and the Holocaust
4. Tillich and the Progressive Christian Movement
5. Tillich and Mary Daly
6. Radical Theology and the Post-Tillichian Debates about God
7. Tillich’s Socialist Writings

Proposals should be sent to the Vice President and Program Chair of this year's meeting (electronic submissions preferred):
Dr Duane Olson
dlolson@mckendree.edu (Please put NAPTS Call in the subject line)
McKendree University Department of Religion
701 College Road
Lebanon, IL 62254
(618)537–6961

AAR Call for Papers, Baltimore Meeting, 2013

The American Academy of Religion Group “Tillich: Issues in Theology, Religion, and Culture” welcomes proposals for its sessions at the Annual Meeting of the AAR in Baltimore, 23–26 November 2013.
We welcome proposals for individual papers and panels on the following issues in theology, religion, and culture that engage with Tillich or post-Tillichian thought:

1. Schelling, Kierkegaard and Tillich
Co-sponsored with the Kierkegaard, Religion, and Culture Group
The Kierkegaard and Tillich Groups jointly invite papers on (a) Kierkegaard’s debt to Schelling, or (b) Tillich’s debt to Schelling.

2. Twenty-First Century Correlation?
Tillich’s method of correlation roots his ideas in the contemporary existential situation of his day. He defined the task of Systematic Theology as providing Christian answers to questions that arise in light of accepted political, ethical, artistic, philosophical and theological practices. What is the (or are) the major challenge(s) that face religion, culture and theology in the 21st century? How does the method of correlation apply to those challenges (or that challenge?) In what ways is Systematic Theology providing a Christian response? Is it effective?

3. Tillich and Film
Co-sponsored with the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group
Following the successful 2012 session on Tillich and music, we invite papers on Tillich and film. What is the significance of Tillich’s theology of culture for work in film and theology? How does Tillich’s approach inform theological interpretation of film? What is meant by the claim that Tillich suggests the “possibility of revelation through film”?

4. Radical Political Theology: Tillich’s Legacy and Significance
What is the importance of Tillich for contemporary radical political theology? Unlike much mainstream contemporary political theology, much thinking from the margins—from the politically and theologically under-represented (including various liberation theologies)—draws creatively from the work of Paul Tillich. What are the further prospects for work in this area?

5. Pentecostal Engagements with Tillich
Building on the forthcoming collection Spiritual Presence and Spiritual Power: Pentecostal Readings of and Engagement with the Legacy of Paul Tillich, ed. Nimi Wariboko and Amos Yong (Bloomington: Indiana University Press), we invite proposals on both the reception of Paul Tillich within pentecostal theology and a Tillichian engagement with Pentecostalism.

6. Practices of the Christian Life in Tillich’s Thought
Co-sponsored with the Christian Systematic Theology Section
We invite papers that address theoretical and practical reflections about the practices of the Christian life from a theological perspective informed by Tillich, in particular with reference to Systematic Theology volume 3 (first published in two parts—Life and the Spirit & History and the Kingdom of God—50 years ago in 1963).

Other Tillich-related proposals will be seriously considered. Unless otherwise requested, proposals not scheduled are automatically passed onto the North American Paul Tillich Society for possible inclusion in their Annual Meeting. A winning student paper receives the Annual Tillich Prize.
The group fosters scholarship and scholarly exchanges that analyze, criticize, and interpret the thought or impact of Paul Tillich (1886–1965), and that use his thought—or use revisions of, or reactions against his thought —to deal with contemporary issues in theology, religion, ethics, or the political, social, psychotherapeutic, scientific, or artistic spheres of human culture. The group cooperates with the North American Paul Tillich Society ( a Related Scholarly Organization of the AAR), which is linked with the German, French-speaking, and other Tillich societies. Papers at Group sessions are published in the Society’s quarterly Bulletin without prejudice to their also appearing elsewhere.
Proposals should be submitted online at the AAR website or sent by email (as attachments) to the group’s co-chairs, Dr Russell Re Manning, University of Aberdeen r.remanning@abdn.ac.uk and Dr Sharon Peebles Burch, Interfaith Counseling Center spburch@att.net. Proposals should be of no more than 1000 words and be accompanied by a 150 word abstract. Please indicate if eligible for the student prize.
Proposals should be received by 15 March 2013.