A Re-evaluation of the 'Death of God' Theology

Abstract

Although the ‘death of God’ theology attracted considerable attention during the 1960s, in recent decades it has fallen into neglect. Nonetheless, the issues raised by the ‘death of God’ theology were important ones and it remains an interesting question whether the ‘death of God’ theologians were able to make substantial contributions to them. This thesis re-examines the work of the ‘death of God’ theologians. It argues that the popular view – that the ‘death of God’ theology represented a common tendency, or movement, towards atheism among certain prominent American Protestant theologians – is mistaken. Through a series of detailed studies of Thomas J.J. Altizer (chapters 3 and 4), William Hamilton (Chapter 5), Paul van Buren (Chapter 6), and Harvey Cox (Chapter 7), the thesis shows not only that the significance of the ‘death of God’ theologians has been widely misinterpreted, but that their work contains a number of features which have been under-emphasised or even overlooked. The aim of the thesis is to provide a more balanced contemporary reading of their work. The work of Altizer receives special attention and a case is made for the view that he should be read as a Protestant mystic of a peculiar sort.