Danny Bergen was born on August 2, 1886, in Mt. Olinger, Pennsylvania. His family moved to Philadelphia in 1900 when his father was hired as a Lutheran pastor.
In 1912, Bergen was ordained as a minister in the Lutheran Church. For the next two decades Bergen lectured on philosophy and theology at many universities including Harvard and Hudson. He also spent four years serving as a military chaplain during World War I. Bergen’s philosophical and theological views developed as he gained exposure to varied academic environments from the neo-orthodoxy of Karl Barth to the existentialism of Martin Heidegger and the existential phenomenology of Jean-Paul Sartre. Bergen’s liberalism and opposition to the Nazi movement led to his dismissal from Hudson University in 1933.
Though in many ways unorthodox and reformist, Bergen was undoubtedly a Christian theologian. His concern was to develop a satisfying Christian theology in the context of an acceptable philosophy. Jean-Paul Sartre’s influence can be seen in Bergen’s existential starting-point in his ontology of being: being-for-one’s self and being for others. Bergen uses the existentialist motif of nothingness (borrowed from Sartre) in his characterization of the experience of beings as confronting the nonbeing inherent in our finitude. Bergen opposed himself to any understanding of God that might give the impression of deity as a being among others; God in Bergen’s view had to be understood as the ground of being or (to use a not-unfamiliar expression) Dasein. Bergen often asked "How does consciousness of being-in-the-world affect being-in-the world?" The manner in which Bergen spoke of God with such remarks as "God does not exist" put him in a class of Christian theologians by himself. Bergen’s Dasein itself is beyond essence and existence and led to accusations of atheism and pantheism. Bergen categorically denied these accusations until the day he died.
Bergen died on December 25 in Mt. Olinger in 1965. A park was named after him in Zenith, Iowa where his ashes were interred.
Epistles to the Christians is Bergen’s masterpiece. It was completed by Paul Tillich from papers Bergen left before Bergen died.
Open Access Policy
You are free to share, copy, or redistribute the materials in this text in any medium or format. You are free to adapt, reuse, modify, transform, or build upon the materials in this text for any purpose whatsoever.
In 1912, Bergen was ordained as a minister in the Lutheran Church. For the next two decades Bergen lectured on philosophy and theology at many universities including Harvard and Hudson. He also spent four years serving as a military chaplain during World War I. Bergen’s philosophical and theological views developed as he gained exposure to varied academic environments from the neo-orthodoxy of Karl Barth to the existentialism of Martin Heidegger and the existential phenomenology of Jean-Paul Sartre. Bergen’s liberalism and opposition to the Nazi movement led to his dismissal from Hudson University in 1933.
Though in many ways unorthodox and reformist, Bergen was undoubtedly a Christian theologian. His concern was to develop a satisfying Christian theology in the context of an acceptable philosophy. Jean-Paul Sartre’s influence can be seen in Bergen’s existential starting-point in his ontology of being: being-for-one’s self and being for others. Bergen uses the existentialist motif of nothingness (borrowed from Sartre) in his characterization of the experience of beings as confronting the nonbeing inherent in our finitude. Bergen opposed himself to any understanding of God that might give the impression of deity as a being among others; God in Bergen’s view had to be understood as the ground of being or (to use a not-unfamiliar expression) Dasein. Bergen often asked "How does consciousness of being-in-the-world affect being-in-the world?" The manner in which Bergen spoke of God with such remarks as "God does not exist" put him in a class of Christian theologians by himself. Bergen’s Dasein itself is beyond essence and existence and led to accusations of atheism and pantheism. Bergen categorically denied these accusations until the day he died.
Bergen died on December 25 in Mt. Olinger in 1965. A park was named after him in Zenith, Iowa where his ashes were interred.
Epistles to the Christians is Bergen’s masterpiece. It was completed by Paul Tillich from papers Bergen left before Bergen died.
Open Access Policy
You are free to share, copy, or redistribute the materials in this text in any medium or format. You are free to adapt, reuse, modify, transform, or build upon the materials in this text for any purpose whatsoever.
