Is God Dead? Eternal Recurrence

Last time, we began to unpack Friedrich Nietzsche’s “God is dead” philosophy by looking at his assertion that there is no objective (absolute) truth or moral values, and that could only happen with the death of God and the abandonment of Christian values. But there is more to the story than that. Nietzsche believed that Christianity, at its base, was a religion of and for the masses—the common folk masses, that is. Society, he argued, is made up of two classes: masters and slaves. Much to his frustration, Christianity was the religion for the slaves of society and was structured for their benefit, even to the pain of the master class. Nietzschean scholar Alistar Kee explains, “Nietzsche characterizes Christianity as the religion of a decadent chosen people, chosen by a decadent God.” Since the Western world philosophically runs on a Christian presupposition, Christianity reflects and promotes the values of those “chosen people” in opposition to the master class. Understanding that Nietzsche saw himself, of course, as a leading member of the master class sets the tempo and tone of his philosophical system, designed to replace the God of Christianity and secure rule for his master class of society. Since Nietzsche accuses Christianity of having brought about an impoverished life by preventing mankind from rising above their animal ancestors, the entire system must be destroyed, starting with the death of God. In Nietzsche’s mind, this will bring about a reevaluation of all moral values, beginning with the assertion that absolute truth is an illusion. Even so, Nietzsche’s philosophy of life is not a simple criticism of Christianity but is the exact opposite of it. What Christianity says is true must be false; what Christianity embraces must be destroyed. Nietzsche said, “Christianity has taken the side of everything weak, base, ill-constituted; it has made an ideal out of opposition to the preservative instincts of strong life.”