God's premature obituaries.(Religion)(Death of God theology)

MANY THINGS appeared in the wake of the tsunami that devastated the northern Indian Ocean littoral on Boxing Day 2004. For some, the tragedy apparently proved that God either does not exist or should be shunned if he does. The phrase "God is dead" resounded across the letters pages in the daily newspapers and seemed to sum up the feelings of many. It was not a new sentiment. For different reasons and in different contexts, the phrase has become a familiar refrain.

Forty years ago, Time published the first of two feature articles on religious belief. The second asked in large red letters against a black background: "Is God dead?" The magazine was not sure. But with the rise of Christian "atheism" the "basic premise of faith--the existence of a personal God, who created the world and sustains it with his love--is now subject to profound attack".

How surprising, then, that the Bulletin proclaimed 2004 the "Year of God". Under the heading "He's Back!", it claimed the "Almighty was given credit for winning elections, and winning and losing wars: from the bloody war in the Middle East to the election of the United States' president, God's name was invoked, blamed, prayed and pleaded to." The magazine's Tim Blair pointed out that observers would not "expect anything less from an omnipresent, all-seeing celestial being, what with His infinite wisdom and complete all-knowingness. Yet it's surprising to consider God's influence--in all His manifestations---over this year's earthly events." He concluded his piece in rather clumsy prose: "God no longer remains dead."

But claims of providential assistance from individuals and groups that have improved their political or social position or their ability to be heard above the din of public life does not mean that Australia is any more religious or that belief in God is stronger or more widespread. It is, in my view, simply a case of more people arguing louder than ever before that religious beliefs or spiritual convictions prompt their actions or shape their attitudes. For many Australians, and especially the young, God is an irrelevant being and a cognitive impossibility. Not only is the prospect of belief in a transcendent being untenable, the concept of a divine being offends against reason and experience. Some even claim that the existence of a God demanding homage is an impediment to world peace, justice and prosperity and a barrier to ordered, rational and stable social structures. And yet, atheism has not carried the day. Most Australians still claim to believe in a transcendent being they call "God".

"GOD IS DEAD"

THE DECLARATION that "God is dead" is a popular one. It is frequently heard after natural disasters, humanitarian catastrophes and violent conflicts. But it is usually uttered with little regard to its original meaning. In perhaps his most coherent work, Die frohliche Wissenschaft (written in 1882 and translated as The Gay Science or Joyous Wisdom), Friedrich Nietzsche tells the story of a madman who goes searching for God in a marketplace.

Although it is morning, the man lights a lantern to aid his search. As he moves about the marketplace, the man cries: "I am looking for God! I am looking for God!" As most of the people he encounters do not believe in God, they refuse to take him seriously but cannot quite ignore him. Mockingly they ask him whether God is lost, hiding, afraid, absent or emigrated. "Where has God gone," he cries. "I shall tell you. We have killed him--you and I. We are his murderers." He then announces that "God is dead! God remains dead."