Page 15 - Contrast1968

Altizer polishes off this rather paradoxical view by saying that
proclaiming the "incarnate Word" means saying that God has died
to enable Jesus to live, and only Jesus is in any sense present

today.

The whole death of God debate--even the phrase "the death
of God"--becomes quite laughable from a metaphysical point of view;
but the reason for this is simply that the radical theologians are
attacking metaphysical approaches to reality. Twentieth century
man lives in an urban and secular context: the metaphysical ap-
proach to reality is an irrelevant anachronism which assumes pre-
sumptions and thought processes which are not part of his existence.
Probably the same attitude exists in reference to systematic theo-
logies: With the possible exception of Altizer, these men are not
attempting to formally state or compile a new systematic theology.
Paul Van Buren, a linguistic analyst, is primarily saying that our
word "God" is devoid of meaning and proceeds to do his theological
work without God, relying solely on Jesus of Nazareth. William
Hamilton sees radical theology as a movement away from the academy
and the temple, and a movement into the world. In his own words,
"This combination of a certain kind of God--rejection with a cer-
tain kind of world--affirmation is the point where I join the death
of God movement.,,2 Thus the new radical theology is actually better
termed non-theology since it first is making no particular attempt
to be a complete systematic theology, and second since it is af-
firming the death of God.

Signpost of a New Age

One of the more interesting themes of the new radical theo-
logy is the concept of waiting. From a strictly theological point
of view, this involves calling a moratorium on the use of the word
and the concept of "God," and simply waiting for a completely new
approach to emerge which will be expressed in the language and
thinking of twentieth century man. However, there is a sense in
which modern man is waiting in many other very vital areas of cul-
ture as well. These areas have generally been labeled "revolu-
tionstl--the civil rights revolution, the sexual revolution, the
urban revolution, the cybernetic revolution. In these revolutions,
the idea of waiting has manifest itself as a kind of expectancy,
while at the same time the revolutionaries are hoping to share in
the shaping of new emerging positions. Along with all of these other
revolutions, the death of God theology is pointing--expectantly--to
the fact that we are in the gestation period of a new cultural and

historical epoch.

The birth pangs of this new historical age can be best seen
in three principal areas, according to radical theologian William
Hamilton; these three areas include the social sciences, art, and
the civil rights movement. In the realm of the social sciences,
Hamilton cites Kenneth Boulding's book, The Meaning of the Twen-
tieth Century as a significant example. In Hamilton's view,