...UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY A Select Issue in Contemporary Theology: God-Is-Dead Theology Submitted to Dr. Lee Mitchell, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of the course THEO 510 – B01 Survey of Theology by Kevin Curtis July 1, 2014 Table of Contents Introduction/Thesis Statement 1 The French Revolution 2 Immanuel Kant Albrecht Ritschl Friedrich Nietzsce 3 Bultman Bonhoeffer Van Buren Hamilton Altizer Conclusion 4 Bibliography 5 Introduction/Thesis Statement One of the most difficult questions today posed to Christian believers is to prove the existence of God. It by all appearances seems that the Christian belief, far more than any other is under attack by groups who are opposing not just belief in God but also a direct attack on religious freedom. By religious freedom the author here does not focus on the right to choose your religion, but to practice it openly without fear of legal retaliation or of retaliation of any kind. The God-Is-Dead Theology is not a new belief but has existed since the late nineteenth century with its roots founded in statements made by Friedrich Nietzsche who lived from 1844 and died in 1900. The sole purpose of this paper is to show the historical workings of those “theologians” who created the God-Is-Dead theology, how it got its possible rise stemming from the events of the French Revolution...
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...An Exegetical Evaluation of the Impacts of “God is Dead” Religion has been subject to various examinations throughout time; this historically dominant concept has offered much to the world, while sometimes being disadvantageous. Philosophers have looked to offer insight and understanding to the idea of a higher power, aiming to try to grasp its complex nature. Friedrich Nietzsche a 19th century philosopher takes a different approach to the idea of religion in his literary narrative “The Gay Science”. In this narrative Nietzsche makes the bold statement that “God is Dead” (Nietzsche 95), claiming that we are responsible. This is rather extreme statement in any context, however considering the time period in which he was writing, a time where...
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...Phil 1010 – 930a Prof. Michele C. Evans Final Exam Essay Barry Bishop II Nietzsche's assertion that 'God is dead' is not simply a theological statement. Nietzsche hasn't come up with the definitive argument to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that God could not possibly exist-except in the minds of men. This statement, although it certainly does have its theological aspect, is essentially a statement proclaiming the plight of modern Western culture. Succinctly stated, the 'Death of God' refers to the complete loss of belief in the accepted religious and metaphysical world-view along with the system of values it upholds, in particular its moral values. The 'Death of God' announces the advent of the age of nihilism, an age of cultural barrenness arising from this loss of belief, and which may well end in catastrophe as far as any truly human existence is concerned. Yet, to Nietzsche, this demise of God, this loss of belief in all that we esteemed as the highest and most valuable, is simply the natural and logical outcome, within the history of Western culture, of the accepted religious and metaphysical world-view. It all begins with the original premise of the framework of Platonism, which, according to Nietzsche, became the ground of all subsequent metaphysical, religious, moral, historical and political views on man and his place in the universe. Broadly, that original Platonic or Socratic premise claimed that existence is bifurcated into two separate asymmetrical...
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...Nietzsche declared that God was dead and believed that people would be completely lost after this realization. He also proposed the two major aspects of human nature, the Apollonian and the Dionysian. Jung proposed that the collective unconscious, information reflective of human experience as a whole, was the most important component of personality. Kierkegaard stressed faith and having a personal relationship with God. Batson formed the three-dimensional model of religion, which characterized how people view and use their own religion. Nihilism is the belief that any search for the truth will fail because what is considered true will always vary. Nietzsche made the statement that “God is dead”. This was not meant to be taken literally, and...
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...Aurea C. Florindo-Soares VTTH 203 E Fr. Donohue 1/22/2015 Is God Dead? In religious experience, people usually think that life is surrounded by ordinary and extraordinary things, especially in the stories of Moses and Elijah. As these stories in the bible go along, many times, some people are questioning the existence of God. To prove God’s existence, one should have a strong belief in their religion. As religion teaches, one believes that God dies physically for us on the cross because He sacrifices himself by giving His full love to us. After God arises from the dead three days later, His soul remains alive. That soul exists in order for us to have a better and deeper relationship with God. One believes that God does exist in nature, in the human person, in the church, and everywhere else. What about a person who does not believe in those things? What about a person who has no religious background and believes that God is dead? Each person has a different perspective, understanding, and belief about the existence of God. Whether one realizes or not, this is his or her choice to believe God’s existence. One will use their experiences to believe in God’s presence in their own lives. They can interpret their experiences as happy or sad, depending on who they trust. If this is in a happy way, one will believe God’s existence by saying God is dead physically, but His soul is not dead. He remains within us everywhere and all the time in this world. He helps us when we need...
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...CHAPTER 15 Problem 1 Willow Brook National Bank operates a drive-up teller window that allows customers to complete bank transactions without getting out of their cars. On weekday mornings, arrivals to the drive-up teller window occur at random, with an arrival rate of 24 customers per hour or 0.4 customers per minute. a) What is the mean or expected number of customers that will arrive in a five-minute period? The expected number is of 0.4*5 = 2 customer is a five-minute period. b) Assume that the Poisson probability distribution can be used to describe the arrival process. Use the arrival rate in part (a) and compute the probabilities that exactly 0, 1, 2, and 3 customers will arrive during a five-minute period. The probabilities of the described scenarios are as follows: P0=20e-20! P0=0.135335283 P1=21e-21! P1=0.270670566 P2=22e-22! P2=0.270670566 P3=23e-23! P3=0.180447044 c) Delays are expected if more than three customers arrive during any five-minute period. What is the probability that delays will occur? This probability can be expressed as the probability of more than 3 customers arriving during the five-minute period, which can be computed as following: P(x > 3) = 1 – P(x ≤ 3) P (x > 3) = 1 – 0.85712346 P(x > 3) = 0.14287654 Thus, there is a 14, 29% probability of expected delays in five-minute period. Problem 3 Use the single-server drive-up bank teller operation referred to in Problems 1 and 2 to determine the following...
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...God Is Dead: Evidence Concerning the Human Condition on Behalf of Friedrich Nietzsche The phrase “God is dead,” when heard outside of context, can fall on the ears of the religious as something strikingly blasphemous. It may fall on the ears of the secular as something quite nihilistic and pessimistic. When taken out of context, a very rich and thought-provoking idea can be completely lost to the emotional hostility provoked in the mind of anyone with staunchly held preconceived notions. “God is dead,” however dark the phrase may sound, is a call to self-reflection. It is a phrase that will, when read with a set of evidences, force the reader to reflect on the milestones that humanity has achieved, both socially and physically, in the small and largely unfettered existence which humanity has possessed. When pondered within context, it is an idea that will force any reader to realize that, since the beginning, mankind has been a creative and impeccably persevering lot that has existed for hundreds of thousands of years, largely due to an exceptional ability to adapt and change prevailing attitudes based on what is needed for survival....
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... THE GOD-IS-DEAD THEOLOGY A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO DOCTOR RICHARD ELLIGSON PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF CHURCH MINISTRY BY EL-FATIH J. AJALA (25927535) THEO 510 LUO LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA JULY 21, 2013 Introduction Paul Enns in his book The Moody Handbook of Theology states of theologians who profess this theology, “deny all forms of traditional ontology and allow for no sovereign and unconditioned Being but only a ‘God’ who at some point in the dialectic wills His own self-annihilation” and that, “man must learn to live without God.”[1] The lack of universal truth in our lives in this 21st century can be directly attributed to the lack of morals and moral values begun in the 19th century; and which took root in the 20th century; and might be the death of man in the 22nd century. In stating that God is dead, it has to be shown that: * Is God dead? * Science and technology can solve the world’s problems * God died as a transcendent God when Christ died * The Bible is narrative (i.e. myth) This review of the God-Is-Dead theology focuses on these four questions. Is God Dead? In an article written in the Chicago Tribune in 1963 it is stated that two men (Thomas Altizer and William Hamilton) experienced the death of God. Upon this statement...
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...LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY “A Select Issue in Contemporary Theology: God-Is-Dead Theology” Submitted to Dr. Eunice Abogunrin In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of THEO 510-B05 Survey of Theology By John Kohler Whitley October 5, 2014 Introduction Friedrich Nietzsche believed God is dead, and he has based his theology around these three words. Why does he believe God is dead? Friedrich Nietzsche could have called his theology God does not exist and easily conveyed his message. Nietzsche purposefully chose these three words to send a message to the Christian faith. Since the beginning of time the existence of God has been questioned. Science has attempted to provide humanity with an explanation for human origin and has failed. Atheists argue that God does not exist and do not really offer any strong counter argument to the contrary. Muslims, Jews, and Christians each claim they serve the one supreme Creator of the universe. Who is right and who is wrong? If God is dead, why is religion alive and well? This paper will attempt to answer these questions by providing examples and counter examples. By taking a closer look at the life of Friedrich Nietzsche, his beliefs, morals and values, one will find that he does not possess any evidence that God is dead. Friedrich Nietzsche The life of Friedrich Nietzsche started out rather sadly. Nietzsche’s father, Karl Ludwig Nietzsche, developed a problem in the brain...
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...Is God Dead and Have We Killed Him? An Argument in Defense of Nietzsche's “Madman.” “Incipit tragoedia,” Nietzsche exclaims at the closing of The Gay Science, but what stands before this tragedy? What has happened to usher in such a fatal turn to the “goat song”? The answer lies in Nietzsche's claim that, “God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him!” (Nietzsche 141-142). There can be little argument that these enraged words of Nietzsche are reveled by atheists and agnostic alike. On the other hand, theists acquainted with his writings revile them. Are there grounds to be correspondingly joyous and offended? Does the announcement carry any concern? Can the proclamation carry both joy and offense? What if the passage is being taken too literally? This is what needs to be investigated! The real question then is what exactly Nietzsche means when he asserts, “God is Dead...And we have killed him!” (Nietzsche 141-142). In order to answer these questions, I intend to argue, through a critical exposition of Nietzsche’s claim, that God - that is the “cause” of Him - although not completely...
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...“GOD IS NOT YET DEAD” The pervasive presence and usages of religion in all the spheres of contemporary social life. INTRODUCTION : Arguments for and against the existence of God have been proposed by philosophers, theologians, scientists, and others for thousands of years. In philosophical terms, such arguments involve primarily the disciplines of epistemology (the nature and scope of knowledge) and ontology (study of the nature of being, existence, or reality) and also the theory of value, since concepts of perfection are connected to notions of God. A wide variety of arguments exist which can be categorized as metaphysical, logical, empirical, or subjective. Does God exist? Is there a god? The existence of God is subject to lively debate in philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and popular culture. The Western tradition of philosophical discussion of the existence of God began with Plato and Aristotle, who made arguments that would now be categorized as cosmological. The field of theodicy arose from attempts to answer this question. Other arguments for the existence of God have been proposed by St. Anselm, who formulated the first ontological argument; Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and Aquinas, who presented their own versions of the cosmological argument (the kalam argument and the first way, respectively); Descartes, who said that the existence of a benevolent God was logically necessary for the evidence of the senses to be meaningful; and Immanuel Kant, who argued that the...
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...Ally Jones Ms. Winslow English II Honors 15 February 2012 Friedrich Nietzsche Life in Germany during 1840s is hard for someone growing up in the 21st century to relate to. Germany was a country of villages and farms. Jobs outside agriculture were rare. The price of food was extremely high and many people starved to death. Private organizations and churches were trying to help the starving people whereas the government did very little. The telegraph was gaining popularity and news was traveling much faster than ever before (Crisis Page). During this time thousands of Germans were immigrating to the United States (“Irish” 25f). There was a lot going on in Germany during the 1840s and on October 15th 1844 Friedrich Nietzsche was born. Nietzsche grew up in the small town of Röcken, in the Prussian province of Saxony. Nietzsche’s parents, Carl Ludwig, a Lutheran pastor and former teacher, and Franziska Oehler, married in 1843 and had two children. In 1849 Nietzsche’s father died from a brain ailment. The following year his younger brother, Ludwig Joseph also passed away. Nietzsche then moved to Naumburg. He lived with his grandmother there until she died in 1856 (“Friedrich” Page). In 1853 he enrolled in Knaben-bergenschule. He didn’t do very well in this school so he transfers to a private school. This prepared him for his time at Domgymnasium. He spent many hours studying in order to keep up with Greek...
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...philosopher credited with popularizing the ideas of individual judgement, “Heaven and Hell”, the future resurrection of the body, and the afterlife – essentially paving the path for all modern religious doctrines. In Thus Spoken Zarathustra, Nietzsche’s Zarathustra attempts the polar opposite – effectively dismantling the “out-dated” concept of morality and bringing all moral-powered beliefs down with it. Nietzsche’s Zarathustra doesn’t stop there; he goes on to introduce the concept of the “overman” as the necessary answer to the death of God and illuminates a cyclical explanation of time, which he refers to as “eternal return”. Thus Spoken Zarathustra was originally composed of four separate books, each written apart from each other – which have since been compiled into one comprehensive work. In the second book, the story “Upon The Blessed Isles” passionately breathes life into some of Nietzsche’s most fundamental beliefs: namely a rejection of God, a defense of creativity and a shift in focus to achieving the overman. Book two of Thus Spoken Zarathustra picks up several years after Zarathustra originally left his disciples - seeking further wisdom in quiet solitude in his...
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...God's Not Dead is a 2014 Christian drama film directed by Harold Cronk, and stars Kevin Sorbo, Shane Harper, David A. R. Whiteand Dean Cain. The film was released to theaters on March 21, 2014, by Pure Flix Entertainment.[4] ------------------------------------------------- Plot Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper), a Christian college student, enrolls in a philosophy class taught by Professor Jeffrey Radisson (Kevin Sorbo), an atheist, who demands that his students sign a declaration that "God is dead" to get a passing grade. Josh is the only student in the class who refuses to sign and is then required by Radisson to debate the topic with him, with the class members deciding who wins. Radisson gives Josh twenty minutes at the end of the first three lecture sessions to argue that God exists. In the first two debates, Radisson has counter arguments for all of Josh's points. Josh's girlfriend Kara (Cassidy Gifford) breaks up with him, fearing that standing up to Radisson will jeopardize their academic future. Ultimately, it comes down to the third and final debate between Radisson and Josh, who again both make compelling points. Josh then halts his line of debate to pose a question to Radisson: "Why do you hate God?" After Josh repeats the question twice more, Radisson explodes in rage, confirming he hates God for his mother's death that left him alone despite his prayers. Josh then casually asks Radisson how he can hate someone that doesn't exist. In the end, Martin (Paul Kwo), a foreign...
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...to cope without a Judeo-Christian God. Nietzsche views nihilism as a deteriorating disability of one’s mentality and physicality, yet there appear to be moments where he leaves hints of being a nihilist himself. This is an interesting aspect in his writings that deserves attention: Nietzsche wishes only to be a Yes-sayer, with a life-affirming philosophy including Eternal Recurrence and Amor fati; yet, a pessimistic side also exists, who exhibits nihilistic tendencies in his writing. And here lies the contradiction. While criticizing nihilism as a disease in Western culture, he appears to possess nihilistic characteristics. I will analyze Nietzsche’s role as both a Yes-sayer and a possible nihilist in order to shed light on this possible contradiction. Through specific evidence in his works, I will attempt to show...
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