Collection inventory

Special Collections home page

Thomas J. Altizer Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: DMB
Date: 20 Nov 1978

Biographical History

Thomas J. Altizer is a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He studied at the University of Chicago, from which he received the degrees of A.B., A.M., and Ph.D. in 1955 with a dissertation on Greek and Eastern religious philosophy. He taught at Wabash College from 1954-1956, then became Associate Professor of Bible and Religion at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, where he became one of the leaders of the "Death of God" movement in the mid-1960s. While teaching at Emory, Altizer's religious views were featured in two Time magazine articles in 1965 and 1966. The latter issue was published at Easter, and its cover asked in bold red letters on a plain black background, "Is God Dead?" Despite the appearance of atheism, Altizer is more correctly described as a radical theologian; God's "death" was simply a self-extinction that resulted from the completion of His plans, beginning at the Creation and culminating in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Altizer's theology generated a great deal of heated debate and in 1968 Altizer left Emory and joined the faculty of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, as a professor in the English Department. He eventually retired to Mt. Pocono, Pennsylvania and wrote a memoir, Living the Death of God.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Thomas J. Altizer Papers are arranged in four series. Audiotape recordings consists of three tapes with recordings of appearances at colleges and on radio programs. Correspondence primarily consists of responses to Altizer's "Death of God" theology and represents a wide variety of opinions from grade school children to learned theologians. Printed material includes essays and miscellany, while Writings contains books, essays and magazine articles by Altizer.

Arrangement of the Collection

Audiotape recordingsare arranged alphabetically. Correspondence is arranged chronologically, apart from his correspondence with publishers and with Stony Brook; these two appear at the end. Printed material is arranged chronologically. Writings is arranged alphabetically by type (books, essays, magazine articles); books and essays are arranged chronologically by title while magazine articles are arranged chronologically by date of publication.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Altizer, Thomas J. J.

Subjects

Death of God theology.
Theologians -- United States.
Theology -- History -- 20th century.

Genres and Forms

Articles.
Audiotapes.
Correspondence.
Essays.

Occupations

Theologians.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Thomas J. Altizer Papers
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Table of Contents

Audio recording tapes

Correspondence

Printed material

Writings

Inventory