Meetings of the North American Paul Tillich Society


The 2017 Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting of the North American Paul Tillich Society took place in Boston, Massachusetts on Friday, November 17th and Saturday, November 18th, 2017. The meeting was held in conjunction with the AAR & SBL Annual Meetings, November 18–21, 2017.


The 2017 NAPTS and AAR Program, Boston, Massachusetts

P17–107
North American Paul Tillich Society
Theme: Creative Justice and Resistance

  • Friday, 9:00 AM–10:30 AM
    Room: Sheraton Boston-Olmsted (Fifth Level)

  • J. Kendrick Wells, Louisville, KY
    Should the Freedom of Expression of Religious Beliefs be Subordinate to Civil Rights
  • Matthew Lon Weaver, Marshall School
    Philosophy and Biblicism
  • Peter Slater, Trinity University, Toronto
    Tillich at Harvard


P17–242
North American Paul Tillich Society
Theme: Book Review: “Prophetic Interruptions” by Bryan Wagoner
Bryan Wagoner, Davis and Elkins College, Presiding

  • Friday, 1:00 PM–2:3000 PM
    Room: Sheraton Boston-Clarendon (Third Level)

  • Responding:
    Christopher C. Brittain, Trinity College, Toronto
    Russell Re Manning, Bath Spa University
    Christian Danz, Universität Wien


P17–248
North American Paul Tillich Society
Theme: The Influence of Paul Tillich on Robert Neville's “Philosophical Theology”

  • Friday, 3:30 PM–5:00 PM
    Room: Sheraton Boston-Beacon B (Third Level)

  • Robert Neville will discuss his three volume Philosophical Theology as an outgrowth of the Tillichian project. Two respondents will reply to the presentation.

  • Panelist:
    Robert C. Neville, Boston University
  • Responding:
    Sharon Peebles Burch, Interfaith Counseling Center, San Anselmo, CA
    Wesley J. Wildman, Boston University


The Annual Banquet of the North American Paul Tillich Society

  • Friday, 7:00 PM–9:30 PM
    Location: Back Bay Social Club
    867 Boylston Street

  • Speaker: Mary Ann Stenger, Professor Emerita,
    University of Louisville

  • Cost: $60. Credit Cards preferred. No cash, please.
    Beverages not included.
  • Reservations: fparrella@scu.edu
    Or U.S. mail: Frederick J. Parrella
    3565 Ivalynn Circle, San Jose, CA 95132


North American Paul Tillich Society
Theme: Board Meeting

  • Time and location will be announced Friday at the meeting and the banquet.


P18–122
North American Paul Tillich Society
Theme: Tillich and Reformation Heritage

  • Saturday, 9:00–11:30 AM
    Room: Marriott Copley Place-Brandeis (Third Level)

  • Christian Danz, Universität Wien
    Critique and Forming: Paul Tillich's Interpretation of Protestantism
  • Tyler Atkinson, Bethany College
    Power Plays in the Political Thought of Tillich and Luther
  • Jan-Olav Henriksen, MF Norwegian School of Theology
    Tillich and the Reformation
  • Ilona Nord, University of Würzburg
    Rereading Paul Tillich's Sermons Regarding the Debate on Inclusion and Diversity in Germany

  • **The NAPTS Business Meeting will follow the conclusion of this session**


A19–122
Open and Relational Theologies Unit
and
Tillich: Issues in Theology and Culture Unit
Theme: Does God Need the World? Whitehead and Tillich in Conversation
Devan Stahl, Michigan State University, Presiding

  • Sunday, 9:00–11:30 AM
    Room: Sheraton Boston-Republic B (Second Level)

  • Does God Need the World? Whitehead and Tillich in Conversation (Joint Session)
    In this time of looming climate catastrophe a major impediment to action has been the theological conviction of many that God will not let us destroy our world. Embedded in this idea is that we are indispensable to God. What if that is not the case? This joint session between the Tillich: Issues in Theology and Culture and the Open and Relational Theologies Units will explore the fundamental question: “Does God need the world?”

  • Janna Gonwa, Yale University
    “A Tender Care That Nothing Be Lost”: Whitehead, Tillich, and the Eternal Life of the Ecosystem<
  • Marc Pugliese, Saint Leo University
    Tillich on the Dynamics of the “Divine Life”: Evasive or Earnest?
  • Kirk MacGregor, McPherson College
    The Tillichian Dispensability of the World to God
  • Demian Wheeler, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities
    God Is the World: Bernard Loomer as a Bridge between Whitehead and Tillich
  • Responding:
    Robert C. Neville, Boston University


A19–325
Tillich: Issues in Theology, Religion, and Culture Unit
Theme: Book Panel: “Tillich and the Abyss: Foundations, Feminism, and Theology of Praxis” (Palgrave, 2016) by Sigridur Gudmarsdottir
Michele Watkins, Iliff School of Theology, Presiding

  • Sunday, 5:00 AM–6:30 pM
    Room: Marriott Copley Place-Grand A (Fourth Level)

  • This session will be a prearranged book review panel on Tillich and the Abyss: Foundations, Feminism and Theology of Praxis by Sigrid Gudmarsdottir. The panel will include responses by Catherine Keller, John Thatamanil, and Kwok Pui-Lan.

  • Panelists:
    Kwok Pui Lan , Emory University
    John Thatamanil, Union Theological Seminary
    Catherine Keller, Drew University
  • Responding:
    Sigridur Gudmarsdottir, University of Tromso

  • **The Tillich: Issues in Theology and Culture Unit Business Meeting will follow the conclusion of this session**
    Devan Stahl, Michigan State University
    Stephen G. Ray, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary


A21–1232
Tillich: Issues in Theology, Religion, and Culture Unit
Theme: Politics, Power, and the Rise of Fascism
Stephen G. Ray, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Presiding

  • Tuesday, 9:00–11:30 AM
    Room: Hynes Convention Center-203 (Second Level)

  • The ways Tillich resisted fascism might prove instructive for resisting the tides of fascism and nationalism that have arisen around the world today. The papers in this session will discuss Tillich's political philosophy, his understanding of state power, and his resistance to evil. Presenters will also compare his writings with other theologians who resisted Nazism.

  • Ho Siu Pun, Chinese University of Hong Kong
    Power as Basic Element for Analyzing and Responding to Fascism: A Study of Paul Tillich's Theology of Power
  • Rachel Sophia Baard, Villanova University
    Bonhoeffer and Tillich: Brothers in Arms
  • Jari Ristiniemi, University of Gefle
    State Philosophy, Micro-fascism, and the New Materiality: Tillich's Contribution for Recent Political Philosophy
  • Caleb Hendrickson, University of Virginia
    The Demonic Arts and the Politics of Resistance: Discerning the Spirits of Visual Culture with Paul Tillich




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