Born in Starzeddel, Germany, on August 20, Paul Johannes Tillich (1886–1965) explored the theological and philosophical depths of contemporary culture. His experiences as a German army field chaplain in World War I shook Tillich's confidence in Western civilization, leading him to question its cultural and religious assumptions. In a series of professorships culminating in an appointment at the University of Frankfurt he spelled out his "theology of culture," exploring the unconscious, self-evident faith implicit in ostensibly secular social thought and structures. After he was dismissed from his professorship on April 13, 1933, by the Nazi government, on November 3 of that year Tillich arrived in the United States, where he held positions at Union Theological Seminary, Harvard University, and the University of Chicago. He died on October 22 in Chicago.

Paul Tillich, 1886–1965. The American Protestant theologian and philosopher ranks as one of the most important and influential theologians of the 20th century...