To Tillich or not to Tillich?

I've been working on the final draft of my theology paper wherein I try to make the case that the theology of Paul Tillich easily lends itself to application for the real world issues of today. Specifically, in regard to proposals regarding ordination standards put forth by the PUP Report. The first draft was surprisingly easy to write, which reinforces my contention that Tillich's theology readily describes our human condition.

But now I've run across a problem. While Tillich's ambiguities of justice do a great job of describing the issues and problems surrounding ordination standards, they don't seem to lend themselves so well to resolving those issues and problems. Tillich, of course, refuses to allow for the use of the supernatural in problem-solving. We instead appeal to 'participation in new being' and 'spiritual presence'. However, in practice, these seem to tread quite closely back to a supernatural intervention. For example, Spiritual Presence provides for the resolution of ambiguity in the face of polarity. This sounds to me quite a bit like Barth's dialectics, which Tillich criticized as being supernatural.

So, my question for all you disciples of Tillich out there is: How does the theology of Tillich work to reconcile irreconcilable differences without straying into the supernatural?


For now, I have to go to Barth and trust that God, in sovereign love, will make possible the impossible.