21st Annual Student Research Conference
Inter-Religious Dialogue as Understood by Tillich and Lindbeck
Christopher J. Pivirotto
Dr. David Murphy, Faculty Mentor
In Marc Boss’s essay, "Religious Diversity: From Tillich to Lindbeck and Back," Boss outlines theologian George Lindbeck’s critique of Paul Tillich’s apologetic approach to theology in Lindbeck’s book The Nature of Doctrine (1984). Lindbeck claims that this approach to theology may no longer be adequate. Lindbeck calls for a fundamentally different approach to theology in which religions are to be compared to "semiotic systems that have to be interpreted on the basis of their internal consistency and not on their conformity to neutral and universal standards of justification." Lindbeck’s postliberal-antifoundational approach to religion is, self-admittedly, highly contextual. I intend to show that Tillich was at least open to this breakdown of inter-communication. Based upon this approach people in general "may have incommensurable notions of truth, of experience, and of categorical adequacy, and therefore also of what it would mean for something to be most important (i.e., 'God')."
Keywords:
Topic(s):Philosophy & Religion
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 54-3
Location: VH 1212
Time: 3:15