“Is God Dead?” asked TIME Magazine 50 years ago. The three-word cover line set off an uproar, yet traditional beliefs in gods of all forms has continued to decline across the developed world from Europe to America and beyond.
TIME’s issue was published in 1966, almost a century after Friedrich Nietzsche wrote the famous line “God is Dead.” Presently, 60 percent of Americans do not believe in God without some doubt. In the 20th Century this number was routinely lower than one percent.
On Sunday, Jan. 22, at 3 p.m., the Reynolds Homestead will host former MIT professor David Oliver in his new lecture series for 2017 titled “God Evolving: The Ultimate Mystery in an Evolving Universe.”
According to Oliver, scientific discoveries of the past 300 years have left little place for the God-Man Creator of Christianity and other religions. These human-like gods—whom the Bible tells created the universe—seem unaware of the most profound and significant facts about their own creation.
“If traditional gods are dying, what then?” asks Oliver.
His answer is that our understanding of God is evolving. Like the snake skin in sacred art, the traditional God-Man as a Father-Creator held up by TIME and Nietzsche is sloughing off. A God inspired by the sheer wonder of existence and the scientific revelations of the hidden depths of nature is emerging and growing: A God of Mystery.
Join Oliver in this five-part lecture series that explores the mysteries of an emerging view of God and the universe. Each lecture is followed by discussion and audience interaction, and all views are welcome to join in the conversation.
The lecture is free and open to the public and refreshments are served.
