Religión y cultura en la reflexión y vida de Paul Tillich

Abstract

Religion and culture are two fundamental themes in Tillich’s theological reflection. Before the theological task of responding to the challenges posed by modernity, common to all contemporary theology, Tillich has made a recognized contribution in this sense, which has led him to be recognized as a theologian of mediation, among the eternal truths of the Gospel and the questions that arise from the current culture. From this perspective, Tillich offers a concept
of religion, culture and above all a way of understanding the relationship between both in a meaningful way for the man of today. Religion is understood as the direction of the spirit towards the Unconditioned, culture as the direction of the spirit towards the conditioned forms, and the relation between both is that culture is a form of expression of religion and the latter is the substance, or meaning, of culture. This relationship implies that religion is conceived not as occupying a space in culture, but rather as its meaning, in the situation in which cultural forms manifest religion as its substance, that is, in the situation of theonomy. This article aims to identify as clearly as possible the concepts of culture and religion, and their relationship, in the reflection of Tillich. The recovery of the reflection on these two concepts could be relevant for those who seek to understand what is religion and its relationship with today’s culture.