Nationality American Role Theologian Name William Hamilton | Children 5 Spouse(s) Mary Jean Hamilton | |
Born March 9, 1924 ( 1924-03-09 ) Evanston, Illinois Notable work Radical Theology and the Death of God (1966) Died February 28, 2012, Portland, Oregon, United States Books The new essence of Christianity | ||
Education University of St Andrews | ||
William Hughes Hamilton (March 9, 1924 – February 28, 2012) was a theologian and proponent of the Death of God/Is God Dead? movement. Hamilton died in 2012 at age 87 in Portland, Oregon.
Education and career
Hamilton was born in 1924 in Evanston, Illinois. In 1943 Hamilton graduated from Oberlin College. He served in the United States Navy during World War II, then earned a master's degree from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York in 1949. In 1952 Hamilton received a doctorate in theology from the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Hamilton and fellow theologian Thomas J. J. Altizer co-authored the book Radical Theology and the Death of God (1966). Time magazine published the article "Is God Dead?" that same year. Hamilton taught Theology at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School until he lost his endowed chair in 1967. He then taught religion at New College in Sarasota, Florida before becoming a faculty member at Portland State University in 1970. There he served as dean of arts and letters until his retirement in 1986.
Hamilton died of complications from congestive heart failure in 2012 at age 87 in Portland, Oregon. He was survived by his wife Mary Jean and five children.