Neither Hidden nor Dead

In brief

Cathleen Kaveny has introduced a symposium in Commonweal that re-examines a 1966 Time magazine cover featuring the question, "Is God dead?" The cover, which used red text on a black background, was widely seen as an allusion to Friedrich Nietzsche and sparked significant cultural debate.

The symposium analyzes the article accompanying that cover, titled "Toward a Hidden God" by John T. Elson. Kaveny notes that Elson's piece addressed the decline of institutional religion, the connection between faith and science, and the problem of evil. The collection of essays seeks to determine how Elson's predictions regarding religious belief have aged over the last sixty years.

The symposium includes contributions from various authors. Religion journalist Kenneth L. Woodward begins the series by examining the journalistic landscape of the 1960s. Other contributors offer reflections based on the theologians and writers interviewed in Elson's original work.