Humanism against provincialism

“I am still ashamed of the extent of my provincialism when I came to this country.” (Tillich 1990a: 36) The reference to his early provincialism occurs in the context of his discussion of humanism as a quasi or “world religion” best able to flourish “in Protestant countries today”. (Tillich 1990a: 35) In context it is clear that Tillich judges the spirit of humanism to be compatible with his understanding of the Protestant principle in the defeat of a “natural provincialism” more prevalent in Europe and yet a current ongoing threat “even here”. (Tillich 1990a: 36) In 1961 Tillich was again to reaffirm that he had in the course of his career in America “purged my mind of many conscious and unconscious European provincialisms without, I hope, having replaced them with American versions of the same evil”. (Tillich 1964: 1) These sparse references to his and a wider cultural provincialism raise questions about its specific content and what effect the identification of this content would have on his late understanding of Christianity, Christian faith and the role of the Christian theologian. In contrast to his 1952 confession of provincialism, Tillich, in 1958, is now much more sensitive to the possibility of a religious provincialism taking root in American soil at the cost of the humanism he here closely associates with the spirit of Protestantism. In passing it can be noted that in the light of the current religious situation in the United States, Tillich’s words and fears now appear prophetic a half century later.--- John P. Dourley, Paul Tillich, Carl Jung and the Recovery of Religion2008.