The Antichrist Curse On Christianity

'The Antichrist: Curse of Christianity' is a book by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, originally published in 1895. In section 1, Nietzsche expresses his dissatisfaction with modernity, listing his dislikes for the contemporary "lazy peace," "cowardly compromise," "tolerance," and "resignation." This relates to Arthur Schopenhauer's claim that knowledge of the inner nature of the world and life results in "perfect resignation, which is the innermost spirit of Christianity." Nietzsche goes on to say that mankind, out of fear, has bred a weak, sick type of human. He blames Christianity for demonizing strong, higher humans. Pascal, he claims, was an intellectually strong man who was depraved by Christianity's teaching of original sin. Mankind, according to Nietzsche, is corrupt and its highest values are depraved. He asserts that "all the values in which mankind at present summarizes its highest desiderata are decadence values." Mankind is depraved because it has lost its instincts and prefers what is harmful to it.

For some, the question remains: Why Nietzsche? Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was quite simply one of the most original and influential philosophers who ever lived; in addition, his writing style was brilliant, epigrammatic, idiosyncratic. This brings us to a second question: Why The Antichrist and Ecce Homo? Two of this great German's most germane offerings, they were among his last writings. Although he completed them both by the end of 1888, they were considered to be so inflammatory that they were published only years later, in 1895 and 1908, respectively. Both are products of Nietzsche's last creative year. Yet Ecce Homo is relatively calm and tranquil, while The Antichrist is a jeremiad full of venom and vitriol. The latter is in fact one of the most devastating condemnations of Christianity ever; Nietzsche calls it "the one immortal blemish on mankind," the greatest sin possible against reality, against the spirit of the earth. He goes on to say that "the first and last Christian died on the Cross." His analysis of Jesus and Paul as superlative Jewish types and his portrait of Pontius Pilate as a superior Roman type are thought-provoking, to say the least. This leads us to a third question: Why this translation? This version is more faithful than any other, thus, I think, better than any other. Every sentence has been weighed and sifted, sifted and weighed to reproduce Nietzsche's hybrid, high-bred style - that style which encompasses the shrill, strident, sarcastic and bombastic as well as the eloquent, impassioned, refined and resplendent. Nietzsche without tears, then, without scholarly excuses or pretentious "improvements"; Nietzsche without shortcuts; better yet, Nietzschestraight.

Here is Friedrich Nietzsche's great masterpiece The Anti-Christ, wherein Nietzsche attacks Christianity as a blight on humanity. This classic is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand Nietzsche and his place within the history of philosophy. "We should not deck out and embellish Christianity: it has waged a war to the death against this higher type of man, it has put all the deepest instincts of this type under its ban, it has developed its concept of evil, of the Evil One himself, out of these instincts-the strong man as the typical reprobate, the 'outcast among men.' Christianity has taken the part of all the weak, the low, the botched; it has made an ideal out of antagonism to all the self-preservative instincts of sound life; it has corrupted even the faculties of those natures that are intellectually most vigorous, by representing the highest intellectual values as sinful, as misleading, as full of temptation. The most lamentable example: the corruption of Pascal, who believed that his intellect had been destroyed by original sin, whereas it was actually destroyed by Christianity!" -Friedrich Nietzsche

"In truth there was only one Christian, and he died on the cross," declares Friedrich Nietzsche in this famous attack on Christianity and organized religion. A deep exploration and repudiation of Christian symbolism and morality, The Antichrist was the last of Nietzsche's works save for his autobiography, Ecco Homo. As such, it may be regarded as a final statement of some of his most important ideas. This polemic is also one of the philosopher's most conventionally formatted books, consisting of a connected argument with few digressions and a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end. Indeed, it ranks among philosophy's most accessible and easily understood works, consisting of 62 brief chapters. Each chapter features an aphorism that advances the author's arguments against Christian tenets. Fast-paced, concise, and brimming with conviction, Nietzsche's landmark work is essential to a grasp of his complete oeuvre.

The Christian concept of a god-the god as the patron of the sick, the god as a spinner of cobwebs, the god as a spirit-is one of the most corrupt concepts that has ever been set up in the world... In him nothingness is deified, and the will to nothingness is made holySee Sharp Press; Tuscon, AZ -from The Anti-Christ He's one of the most debated thinkers of the 19th century: Nietzsche and his works have been by turns vilified, lauded, and subjected to numerous contradictory interpretations, and yet he remains a figure of profound import, and his works a necessary component of a well-rounded education. The Anti-Christ, first published in German in 1895, is absolutely vital to any meaningful understanding of Nietzsche the man and Nietzsche the philosopher. An insightful and entertaining indictment of Christianity, it has enraged and inspired generations of readers, and this 1920 translation, by H. L. Mencken, considered the best available, is almost as controversial as the work itself, highlighting the darkest side of Mencken's cynicism. Also available from Cosimo Classics: Nietzsche's The Use and Abuse of History. German psychologist and philosopher FRIEDRICH WILHELM NIETZSCHE (1844-1900) was appointed special professor of classical philology at the University of Basel at the precocious age of 24, but soon found himself dissatisfied with academic life and created an alternative intellectual society for himself among friends including composer Richard Wagner, historian Jakob Burckhardt, and theologian Franz Overbeck. Among his philosophical works are Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, and Ecce Homo.

The Christian concept of a god-the god as the patron of the sick, the god as a spinner of cobwebs, the god as a spirit-is one of the most corrupt concepts that has ever been set up in the world... In him nothingness is deified.. 19th century: Nietzsche and his works have been by turns vilified, lauded, and subjected to numerous contradictory interpretations, and yet he remains a figure of profound import, and his works a necessary component of a well-rounded education. The Anti-Christ, first published in German in 1895, is absolutely vital to any meaningful understanding of Nietzsche the man and Nietzsche the philosopher. An insightful and entertaining indictment of Christianity, it has enraged and inspired generations of readers, and this 1920 translation, by H. L. Mencken, considered the best available, is almost as controversial as the work itself, highlighting the darkest side of Mencken's cynicism.

Friedrich Nietzsche's "The Antichrist" might be more aptly named "The Antichristian," for it is an unmitigated attack on Christianity that Nietzsche makes within the text instead of an exposition on evil or Satan as the title might suggest. In "The Antichrist," Nietzsche presents a highly controversial view of Christianity as a damaging influence upon western civilization that must come to an end. Regardless of ones religious or philosophical point of view, "The Antichrist" makes for an engaging philosophical discourse.