John Truscott Elson (April 29, 1931 – September 7, 2009) was a religion editor and writer who eventually became the assistant managing editor of ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
''. He is most remembered for his provocative April 1966 cover story for which the magazine's cover simply asked, "
Is God Dead?
"Is God Dead?" was an April 8, 1966, cover story for the news magazine ''Time''. A previous article, from October 1965, had investigated a trend among 1960s theologians to write God out of the field of theology. The 1966 article looked in greater ...
"
Biography
Early years
Born in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Elson was the son of
Robert T. Elson, a newspaper reporter who became an editor at ''Time'' and ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
''. He attended
St. Anselm's Abbey School
St. Anselm's Abbey School is an all-boys preparatory school for grades six through twelve in Washington D.C., United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. The school sits on a 40-acre wooded campus in the Mic ...
(then known as the Priory School) in Washington, D.C. and received an undergraduate degree from
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
in 1953. He also received a master's degree in English from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1954.
[
Elson entered the ]United States Air Force Reserve
The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commiss ...
in August 1954 as a second lieutenant and served for two years. He was initially stationed at Parks Air Force Base
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...
in California and later was in Japan. He became a reporter for the Canadian Press news agency. He was hired at ''Time'' and worked initially in the Detroit bureau. In 1967, he became a senior editor in charge of the sections for religion, theatre, cinema and education. He remained at ''Time'' in 1987 and eventually held the position of assistant managing editor.[
]
1966 cover story: "Is God Dead?"
He was the religion editor at ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine who famously asked, "Is God Dead?" Elson posed the questions in a cover story for the April 8, 1966 issue of ''Time''. For the first time in the magazine's 43-year history, the cover featured no photograph or illustration. Instead, the cover showed blood-red letters against a black background posing Elson's question, "Is God Dead?" ''The New York Times'' has called the cover "a signpost of the 1960s, testimony to the wrenching social changes transforming the United States."[
Though Elson is most remembered for the "Is God Dead?" cover, it was one of many stories he wrote for the publication on the subject of religion. Indeed, he had written nine previous cover stories on religious issues for ''Time''.][
]
Reaction to the story
Elson's cover story provoked extensive discussion. The issue drew ''Times biggest newsstand sales in more than 20 years. The publisher received 3,500 letters—the most in the magazine's history to that point.[ The ''Chicago Sun Times'' referred to it as "a debate that had shocked and confused millions of devout Americans." One syndicated columnist, Jim Bishop, responded angrily to the article, pointing out that a recent Harris Poll showed that 97% of all American claim to believe in God. Bishop suggested the editors at Time had an incorrect view of God: "I would guess that the editors think that, if God is still out there, He should alter His image a little, become a hipster, stop dragging His sandals and start snapping His fingers in a Go-Go world."]
In a May 1966 address, the pastor of the National Presbyterian Church of Washington, D.C. disputed the "God is Dead" theory, saying advocating the theory were a small group that had plunged "into the depths of existential despair."[ The pastor further noted, "One is moved to ask whether the reporters were sufficiently well acquainted with the deceased as to be able to identify the corpse."]
Death
On September 7, 2009, Elson died at home in Manhattan. He was survived by his wife, the former Rosemary Knorr, and two daughters.[
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elson, John T.
1931 births
2009 deaths
American religious writers
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Columbia University alumni
Writers from Manhattan
University of Notre Dame alumni
United States Air Force officers
Time (magazine) people
Writers from Vancouver