born , Aug. 20, 1886, Starzeddel, Brandenburg, Ger.
died Oct. 22, 1965, Chicago, Ill., U.S.
German-born U.S. Protestant theologian.
He studied at Berlin, Tübingen, and Halle and was a chaplain with the German army during World War I. He taught successively at Marburg, Dresden, and Frankfurt am Main. In 1933 the Nazi takeover prompted him to immigrate to the U.S. With the aid of Reinhold Niebuhr , he joined the faculty of New York's Union Theological Seminary. He became respected for his lucid preaching and his Systematic Theology , 3 vol. (1951–63). He moved to Harvard University in 1955 and to the University of Chicago in 1962. His theological system was an unusual combination of biblical, existentialist, and metaphysical elements, and he attempted to convey an understanding of God that depended neither on revelation nor on science. His other works include The Courage to Be (1952) and Dynamics of Faith (1957).