Death of God theology is a theological movement dating back to the radical theologians of the 1960s, like Thomas Altizer and William Hamilton, and continuing in a more diverse form in the work of individuals like Slavoj Žižek and John Caputo. The movement can be traced back to the works of G.W.F. Hegel, of whom Thomas Altizers says, "The Phenomenology of Spirit is the first philosophical enactment of the Death of God,” (Altizer) and thinkers like Nietzsche, Lacan, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, and Derrida and poets like William Blake. The thesis of the Death of God theologians is that in some way "God is dead,” whether that be in a literal sense (God died on the cross and stayed dead) or, although not excluding the former, in a symbolic sense (God is dead in our culture). Using Death of God theology, we can see how “The Second Coming” by William Yeats describes the condition of man in the wake of the death of God and predicts the eventual rise of postmodernity, or “Anti-Christ”.
The first two lines of the poem,“Turning and turning in the widening gyre/The falcon cannot hear the falconer;”, express a sentiment that Altizer calls “The Dark Night of the Soul” (a reference to a poem of the same name by St. John of the Cross). “The Dark Night of the Soul” for Altizer has its roots in a distinction made by Kierkegaard between the spheres of Objective Reason and Subjectivity (Linscott). For Kirkegaard, God was absent in a world which was bound up in objectivity, rationalism, empiricism, etc. which meant that it took an act of subjective will to reach God and acquire Truth. That act of subjective will is called “the leap of faith” by Kirkegaard. Altizer tells us that this leap is no longer possible in modernity since the death or abse...
... middle of paper ...
...eory: Critical Interrogations. New York: Guilford, 1991. 45-48. Print.
Linscott, Andrew. "Radical Theology and the Death of God." Rev. of Radical Theology and the Death of God, by Thomas Altizer and William Hamilton. n.d.: n. pag. About Atheisms & Theologies. Boston University, 2009. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, and Walter Arnold Kaufmann. "Section 125: The Madman." The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs. New York: Vintage, 1974. N. pag. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
O'Farrell, Clare. "Key Concepts." Michel-foucault.com. N.p., 30 Oct. 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Yeats, William. "The Second Coming." The Norton Introduction to Literature. ed. Spencer Richardson-Jones. 11th ed. New York: Norton. 2013. 1203. Print.
Zondervan NIV Study Bible. Fully rev. ed. Kenneth L. Barker, gen. ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. Print.
New International Version Study Bible. Barker, K. gen. ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985. Print.
...yne A. The HarperCollins Study Bible New Revised Standard Edition . New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993. 1645-1722. Print.
The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions by David Berlinski uses clever and unique critiques of militant atheism and its devotion to scientism. Ten in depth chapters shed light on the dogmatic stance of many of today’s popular “new atheists.” According to Berlinski new atheism poses itself as the sole holder of truth through science, “And like any militant church, this one places a familiar demand before all others: Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (10). Berlinski (a secular Jew) approaches ideas with his own mixture of intelligence and thought filled logic; exploring the world as well as important philosophical questions pertaining to “new atheism”. Thus providing the information needed to explore the sides for both and existence and nonexistence of God.
Nietzsche, Friedrich, and Walter Kaufmann. The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs : Translated, with Commentary by Walter Kaufmann. New York: Random, 1974. Print.
Hitchens, Christopher. God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. New York: Twelve, 2007. Print.
Religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods, a particular system of faith and worship or a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). From religion, many new groups, communities and further derived religions have formed. Closely related to religion and with endless controversies surrounding it’s classification as a religion is the concept of Atheism- which is defined as the disbelief or rejection of a deity. Descending from this is a social and political movement in favour of secularism known as New Atheism. Understanding the historical content concerning the emergence of atheism, this essay will then address how various aspects within the field inclusive the goals, structures and approaches have emerged and developed over time in comparison to the original atheist ideals.
Carson, D, & Moo, D. (2005) An introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The NIV Study Bible. Barker, Kenneth: General Editor. Grand Rapids, Michigan: The Zondervan Corporation, 1995
Intellectual thought since Nietzsche has found itself one way or another addressing the death of God. Most of this thinking, however, has taken place from an atheistic starting point and has not considered its own presuppositions. It strives to find consistent outworking from these presuppositions and to eradicate the shadow of God carried over from the Enlightenment tradition because of its grounding in a theistic worldview. However, the outcome and implications of thinking after the death of God has been found hideous and many attempts have been made to transcend the absurdity there.
Epicurus believed that death was not a misfortune. He Believed that once an individual passes away, he or she looses their wordily sensation. He drew that sensation is a necessary condition of value to a person, so without it, the person will not sense, therefore be incapable of feeling. Contemporary philosophers however object this theory. Arguing that death is bad precisely because it deprives a person of good experiences which one could not possibly experience when deceased. In paragraph one of this essay, it expands on the epicurean argument for death not being a calamity for the one passing away. The second paragraph will look at the with this view and lastly paragraph three will consider the objective argument of Thomas Nagel and Fred Feldman.
Barker, Kenneth L.. Zondervan NIV study Bible: New International Version. 2008 update. ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2008. Print.
...se in their once-strong social system. The “Second Coming” Yeats’ refers to is also addressed in the book, as Achebe relates the second coming to the arrival of the white missionaries. Through the writing of his book, Achebe is able to express his feelings of unfairness and hatred that he attributes to the Christians that had torn his people apart. Especially toward the Christians, who believe in the “second coming”, he scoffs at their hypocrisy and the corruption they bring. It should be noted that Yeats’ poem has multiple interpretations regarding its meaning, and Achebe’s comparison between them is strictly only based on what Achebe himself believes is the poem’s purpose. Through these two pieces of literature, Achebe is able to accurately describe his opinion of the white missionaries, as well as provide a picture of the conflict that result from their arrival.
Friedrich Nietzsche’s, “God is dead” idea is not exactly what is sounds, or appears to be at first. Although it may seem to be a very “antichrist”, or a “anti religious” statement it actually pertains to the dependency our society has on religion, and “how the idea of God has lost it’s full creative force, its full power”(5). The main argument that Friedrich Nietzsche has with this idea is that ...
6. Bohdan R. Bociurkiw and John W. Strong, Religion and Atheism in the U.S.S.R. and
Kohlenberger, III, John R. and Barker, Kenneth L., eds. Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary: An Abridgement of the Expositors Bible Commentary. Chicago: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994.