The Gospel of Christian Atheism (Thomas J.J. Altizer / 1966)

Preface

... there is no intrinsic reason why Christianity should be identified with its ecclesiastical expressions. Indeed, the identification of Christianity with the Christian Church may well be the major source of the troubles that now beset the Christian faith ...

Introduction

Does G-d lie at the center of Christian faith and proclamation? Is the Christian Word forever inseparable from its historic ground in the existence and the power of G-d? Must Christian witness inevitably speak of the glory and the sovereignty of G-d? ... It is the thesis of this book that the Christian, and the Christian alone, can speak of God in our time; but the message the Christian is now called to proclaim is the gospel, the good news or the glad tidings, of the death of God ... Under the impact of an increasingly profane history .. theology was reduced .. to establishing faith as a haven from the emptiness and the ravages of an indifferent or hostile world. Meanwhile, theology ceased to speak in any meaningful way about the Word of faith ... Certainly the older forms of faith have little meaning in our world, yet if we as Christians believe in an actually incarnate Word, then either the Word has perished or it has undergone a radical transformation ... The Christian faith is real only insofar as it undergoes a particular human and historical expression, and we must not betray that faith by falsely believing that faith is confined to either its primitive or its past historical expressions ... Again and again Christian theologians have told us that faith is a risk -- despite the fact that few theologians have ventured to take upon themselves anything more than a token risk -- and we must recognize that a faith which is not open to the loss of faith is not a true form of faith ...

Chapter 4: The Self-Annihilation of God

... What can it mean to speak of the death of God? Indeed, how is it even possible to speak of the death of God, particularly at a time when the name of God would seem to be unsayable? First, we must recognize that the proclamation of the death of God is a Christian confession of faith ... Whether or not we choose to so understand the original Christian gospel of the dawning of the Kingdom of God, it is clear that the radical Christian affirms that God has died in Christ, and that the death of God is a final and irrevocable event ...

http://www.religion-online.org/showbook.asp?title=523

This is serious but often misunderstood theology from the mid-1960's: it is, in a specific way, a Christian theology which explores the notion that the Christian message is that G-d died irrevocably, ceasing thereby to be G-d and entering the world as love incarnate.

and it's a very good read.

There has been a separation of theologians and the priestly class for many centuries. Unfortunately, theologians rarely speak out against the history that has gripped the church, and the world for many centuries now. To hear Christians speak these days is to have a front row seat at their proclamation of ignorance.

It's kind of hard to see how dying as a human is as big a loss as it normally would be, if your normal gig is Lord of creation, and you get to go back to it.