A few overdue remarks | The Antichrist

A passionate philosopher expressing his disgust | The Antichrist | Friedrich Nietzsche

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	• The Antichrist Friedrich Nietzsche Voasha Publishing LLC, 2008 - 86 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

i don't think nietzsche was an idiot

Unlike many other people who have reviewed this book, I do not believe that Nietzsche was an idiot. It is extremely obvious in The Antichrist, that Nietzsche was strongly right-wing, and therefore had a strongly right-wing outlook on life. This is NOT a book for someone who is NOT right-wing themself, and also CLOSED-MINDED TOWARD OTHER WAYS OF THINKING.
Its true, Nietzsche's beliefs are not democratic. He did not believe that all men were created equal. He believed that strength was good, that weakness was bad, and that the strong should rule over the weak. He saw Christianity as something that was embracing all the weaknesses in man, and therefore something that was universally wrong.
I am not saying that I am a supporter of Nietzsche's philosophy. In reality I am a very Left-Wing thinker. I am not racist in any way, and I am not against any religion in its entirety, but I do not think that it is harmful for me to once in a while take a glimpse into the world on the other side of the spectrum.

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A few overdue remarks

Needless to say, I find this book meaningful - and enormously so, independently from the ideas that are professed in it, with which I do not directly agree or disagree. More than discussing the book itself, in this review I would like to point out a couple of things that have not been mentioned yet in other reviews.

After having been read for entire generations principally by delusional emo teenagers, the Antichrist seems to have gained renewed fortune lately after the recent "I hate religion at all costs" cultural trend that has originated in America in reaction to the increasing loudness of Christian Creationist/Anti-homosexual/anti-Atheism propaganda.
This comports essentially that the focus that is given to the book is on whether Christianity is evil and not on other aspects that I find more relevant.

Firstly, this book was not intended to be an attack on Christianity because Nietzsche one afternoon got bored and did not know what else to do. The Antichrist was the preface, in a sense, to a much larger and unaccomplished literary work ("The Transvaluation of all values") for which a critique of Christianity was a necessary beginning.

Secondly, Nietzsche was a philologist. All his books to an extent are philology works and the Antichrist is no exception.
After reading it some time ago, what I still remember well of the Antichrist is how Nietzsche created an incredibly insightful and brave interpretation of an hypothetical 'real' story of Christ basing himself on his philological analysis of the Gospels.

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A passionate philosopher expressing his disgust

I have just finished reading Friedrich Nietzsche's "The Antichrist: A Criticism of Christianity". The theme of this book or perhaps extended essay is the criticism and/or condemnation of the Christian faith. I must admit I am surprised how many of Nietzsche's points are still very relevant today despite the fact this book was written 1888. I will address the former statement in a moment.

I viewed this book more as critique, than some written abomination that should never see the light of day. I should state I am more of a spiritual person than a religious one, so I wasn't offended by Nietzsche's views. So for all you Christians out there before you become upset with this book just remember it is a man's opinion and everyone is entitled to have one.

As I noted prior, many points presented in "The Antichrist" are still very relevant today. For instance, it speaks about how Christianity uses sin as a propaganda tool. Therefore followers of faith (Nietzsche states that faith is an "incurable falsity" because to shut one's eyes in order to avoid any suffering is ludicrous) must live their lives based on fear of breaking a sin. This then leads into stating that some "so called sins" are part of the human experience and allows a person to grow and learn. Christianity cripples this life experience. This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as Nietzsche's ideas go.

Another idea I liked presented in this book was how Christianity promotes fundamental thinking, seeing things only in black and white. I believe this same notion can be transferred to politics. Nietzsche doesn't just spit off his opinion he does reference quotes and passages from the Bible. When he presents these quotes and then his views a strong argument is created. This makes the content in this book philosophy not just a glorified opinion.

Although I respect Nietzsche critical presentation, I don't agree with all of it. Some of his notions went totally over my head. In addition to state that every person who practices Christianity is a warped individual is equivalent to every person who does practice Christianity has a heart of gold. On a final note, Nietzsche's father was a Lutheran pastor who died when Nietzsche was only four years old. It states in the introduction of this book that a bit of a void was left for Nietzsche after his father died. Perhaps this early experience might have been the foundation for his disgust towards religion. Which leaves us with the inquiry, aren't we all products of our environment?

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The AntiChrist Reviewed

Nietzsche's most incisive criticism is that Judeo-Christian morals invert the truly noble human virtues (honor, pride, beauty, and power), replacing them with diminutive human qualities such as pity, humility, meekness, submissiveness. Born of an enslaved people creating values for slaves, Nietzsche believes that Judeo-Christian values represent a resentment on the part of the Israelites--a resentment aimed at turning slave virtues into a morality for all people. By this accomplishment, the slave class becomes the truly ethical class and perhaps even God's people once again. That's Nietzsche's opinion.

However, I disagree with Nietzsche while remaining an admirer of his analysis. Nietzsche's ideal is the ubermensch ("the Superman"), but Judeo-Christian virtues are an expression of something far deeper that was born in the earliest days of human civilization. Specifically, Judeo-Christian values have a broader aim than creating a superman; that is, to create a Super People. They aim to tame selfish urges which, if unchecked, threaten to sever relationships, create division, and disband the greater whole. Judeo-Christian morality aims to transform selfishness so that the individual can balance self interest with the good of the greater whole. Accordingly, Judeo-Christian values increase cohesion and unity among people, enabling human civilizations to scale in numbers and become a super-people.

Early in our history, humans discovered the secret of their humanity--the power of scale; the power of increasing our social unions to achieve critical advantages that only humans can achieve. It can be summed up simply as: what unites us is good; what divides us is evil. The power of scale truly unlocked human potential, enabling tribes to become civilizations. The power of scale gave rise to societal advantages such as a stronger collective defense against enemies, more effective hunting, the division of labor, trade, commerce, skilled labor and specialization, education and learning, and the political state.

While incomplete early on, the Israelites articulated the will of a people to unite and scale. What unites us is good; what divides us is evil.

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A superb book (not for the spiritually squeamish)

As Nietzche himself said, he is not a philosopher, he is dynamite. And there is certainly an explosive force to this book. Nietzche unmasks Christianity for the nihilistic life-denying system of belief that it is. Unfortunately his disrepectful style is likely to make believers sick with disgust and so prevent them from appreciating his message.

Friedrich Nietzsche's "The Antichrist"

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