Word: paulus
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Paul Tillich's personal secretary during his Harvard years (1955-62), 1 was initially puzzled and somewhat dismayed to learn of the acutely personal revelations in Hannah Tillich's book about life with Paulus [Oct. 8]. But upon further reflection. I think her demythologizing will undoubtedly further public interest in a closer study of his writings, with the added insight that here was a philosopher-theologian whose wisdom sprang not from an antiseptic ivory tower but from the morass of personal anguish at being much too human...
Thank you. Hannah. Paulus never felt at all comfortable on that uneasy pedestal built by uncritical and unreading admirers...
Lady Fair. A somewhat different view of Tillich's libido appears in another book to be published this month, Paulus (Harper & Row; $5.95). Written by his former student, Rollo May, it suggests that Tillich's pursuit of women was more sensual than sexual. To May, Tillich was in the medieval mold, a throwback to the age of chivalry, an incurable romantic who could scarcely write a book-even his best theology -without at least inwardly dedicating it to some lady fair. He was Teutonically serious about sex; the erotic pretensions of classic pornography attracted him, but he abhorred...
...describes in detail how Tillich took May's fiancee out walking one afternoon and wove a Tolkien-like fantasy in which she and Paulus became lovers. He cajoled her into pronouncing the ending: "We would lie together." It was only "psychological" seduction, says May, who seems oddly proud of it, as if his fiancee had been honored by "the old custom of the deflowering of the new bride by the lord of the estate...
Eventually, the compulsive fires had to burn down. In their last years together, Hannah reports, "it was harvest time for Paulus and me. I felt compassion for Paulus, I could enjoy him again... (We) indulged in a new, secret marriage pact...