Paul Tillich

In 1914, he married a woman named Margarethe Grethi Wever. She later conceived a baby from another affair and the couple separated in 1919 and eventually divorced.

In 1924, he married his second wife, Hannah Werner-Gottschow.

He died at the age of 79, due to a heart attack he had suffered ten days ago. He was laid to rest at the Paul Tillich Park in New Harmony, Indiana.

Paul Tillich was born in Starzeddel, Germany to Johannes Tillich, a conservative Lutheran pastor and Mathilde Durselen. After his father became superintendent of a diocese in Bad Schonfliess, the family moved there.

He was educated at the elementary school in Bad Schonfliess. He later went on to attend the ‘gymnasium’ school, where he studied as a boarder. During his time in the ‘gymnasium’school, he started reading the Bible to overcome loneliness.

From 1900, after his father got transferred to Berlin, he began attending a Berlin school, from where he eventually graduated. He lost his mother before he graduated, when he as just 17.

He attended the University of Berlin, the University of Tubingen and the University of Halle-Wittenberg. He obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Breslau.

In 1912, he obtained his Licentiate of Theology from the Halle-Wittenberg. The same year, he obtained ordainment as a Lutheran minister in the Province of Brandenburg.

In October 1914, he joined a chaplain in the Imperial German Army, during the World War I. After the war, he commenced his career in academics as the Privatdozent of Theology at the University of Berlin.

In 1924, he became Professor of Theology at the University of Marburg. During his one year tenure, he also taught systematic theology for the last three terms.

From 1925 to 1929, he served as a Professor of Theology at the Dresden University of Technology and the University of Leipzig.

From 1929 to 1933, he was a Professor of Theology at the University of Frankfurt. During his tenure at the University of Frankfurt, he gave speeches and lectures all over Germany. This brought him trouble from the Nazi government and in 1933 German Chancellor Adolf Hitler dismissed him.

After being dismissed, he took up a job as the Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the Union Theological Seminary in New York. He also taught as a Visiting Lecturer in Philosophy at Columbia University.

His three-volume magnum opus ‘Systematic Theology’ is regarded as one of the most profound works in Christian theology. In this series he attempts to answer, ‘man's deepest questions’.