‘Death of God’ Theology

‘Death of God’ Theology. A movement in vogue in the 1960s, especially in the USA. The phrase ‘God is dead’ has been used in various ways. It occurs in a Good Friday hymn by M. Luther in reference to the death of Christ. G. W. F. Hegel used it to mean that Absolute Spirit has given up its transcendence to enter the finite reality of history. Others gave the phrase a cultural sense, meaning that man had reached a stage of civilization in which the concept of God had no relevance. F. W. Nietzsche held that to achieve their status as autonomous beings men must abolish God and become responsible for the world and creators of moral values. These differences of meaning are reflected in the ‘death of God’ theologies. G. Vanhanian in a book called The Death of God (1961) claimed that in contemporary W. culture God had ceased to be a meaningful factor. Taking up D. Bonhoeffer's phrase ‘religionless Christianity’, various theologians tried to produce versions of Christianity without God. Others held that a transcendent God was incompatible with human freedom. See also GOD.