I’ve always had a hard time with the “death of God”, especially since I read Nietzsche’s “Parable of the Madman”. I think was 6 years old when I saw the Time magazine cover, “Is God Dead?” Or, I could have been older and saw a copy; regardless, I was a child the first I heard of the idea. I thought it was funny, but crazy, too. It wasn’t until my adult years when I read Nietzsche’s parable that I realized just how crazy it was. I mean, it is the Parable of the Madman, not “The Parable of the Man Who Finally Came to His Senses”! For Nietzsche, it seems like the death of God was a necessary psychological process that ultimately drove him mad. I would hate to see that applied universally.
As a Christian, I think that the death of “the God who is YHWH” is not a psychological process anyone should go through, but a spiritual process of ultimate self-destruction. BUT, I can see the “death” of a “false god” as being an absolutely necessary process a person must go through in order to shake off the shackles of a burdensome life of slavery. Imagine not having the slightest clue where you stand with the god you worship, or following a path you are unsure is up or down. I heard of a Hindu who became a Christian partly because he never knew if the life he was living was on its way to enlightenment or away from it, or what sins in his previous life he had to atone for. And if there were all our reincarnations go back to a First Person living the First Life, for what sins was he atoning? I have similarly known of Muslims who tire of wondering if the balance is ever in their favor. Weighing of deeds on Day of Judgment To gods like that, I say, “Good riddance!”
I know where I stand before God (YHWH): Redeemed. Purified. Cleansed of all unrighteousness. Not by the deeds of my flesh, but by his grace and faithfulness; not because I am “special”, but because HE is special; not because I am good, but because HE is good. The “death of God” is simply unthinkable; I might as well deny gravity.
Perhaps, to you, I prove your point, that the death of God IS a “psychological process” that I could not ever have the courage to get through, necessary or not. Some would even pity my poor delusional self. I can live with that. I disagree, but it doesn’t bother me; I don’t take it personally. I only hope I have done some justice to your question the way I understand it.
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