“God is dead”. Three simple words taken separately are themselves harmless, but when Friedrich
Nietzsche spoke them so long ago, it sparked near revolution. Nietzsche was famous for using hyperbole
and confusing logic. He often employed story telling in his writings rather than direct, analytical
arguments. “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”, one of his most famous books, was a prime example of this style.
The real meaning of Nietzsche’s statement has been lost through all the translations and is easily
misunderstood as a result. By using unclear motives and confusing arguments, Nietzsche’s concept of
“God is dead” comes up short of answering many of the questions one might pose.
Friedrich Nietzsche was by no means a cozy person. He was described by many as an egotist; abrasive,
and callous. He was vehemently against the Christian faith and of all theologies for that matter. He
rejected the idea of a “God” in that the belief in a “God” was not just a belief in something beyond
ourselves, but rather a casting away of the world we exist in today. He did not use the word “live”
because of how his definition and that of the rest of the world differed. He saw looking to the heavens
as an attempt to escape the world our feet are touching and rather than prove or disprove the
“existence” of God, (like others before him had attempted) he chose rather to state simply: “God Is
Dead”.
Nietzsche claimed that it was us that killed God. In his view our misguided focus on physics and the
world around us in a quest for objectivity, was what drove the true belief in God away; thus, we are
God’s murderers. He was a staunch anti-objectivist and felt that objectivism led one into a blind hole
where things are so narrowly defined and reduced to “truths”, but no one truth can be determined for
everyone.
Nietzsche begins to become more and more misunderstood. His anti-theological beliefs aside, he makes
a rather valid point on the surface. He is trying to tell everyone that by their own doing, they are forcing
God out of the picture. They are destroying the very reason he was originally thought to exist. By turning
our gaze outward, we are unraveling the mysteries around us in search of an objective “Truth”, and
eroding away the essence of a God.
In his parable of the madman, he attempts to bring this contradiction to the surface in a pastoral, more
approachable way. He describes a scene in which villagers are milling about a square when a “madman”
jumps out from the woods and shouts, “I am looking for God! Whither art thou God?!” The villagers,
who are non-believers themselves, begin to make a joke of this odd person seeking a being that does
not exist. The madman then goes on to explain why he cannot find God:
“The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. ‘Whiter is God?’ he
cried; ‘I will tell you. We have killed him…you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we
do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire
horizon? What are we doing when we have unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it
moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually?
Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up and down? Are we not
straying as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not
become colder? Is night not continually closing in on us? Do we need not to light lanterns in the
morning? Do we hear nothing as yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do
we smell nothing as yet of divine decomposition? Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God
remains dead. And we have killed him.’”
Nietzsche designs his arguments not as a question of logic and reasoning, but rather as a psychologist
would diagnose an illness. He sees “symptoms” and proposes a variety of “cures” for them. The problem
however of an approach such as this is that is limits the validity of an argument.
Philosophers prior to Nietzsche have all used some sort of logical proof or empirical evidence for either
the existence of or non-existence of God, so for Nietzsche to come out and claim that the reason people
still cling to the thought of a presence outside of our world is a cause of a “sickness”, strikes a chord with
many people.
Not to say that Nietzsche does not have any ammunition, much of what he says can be observed in
everyday life. People often attend a worship service on a predetermined day, going about the proper
rituals, but with no real understanding of why or passion behind their actions. Once the ritual is
completed, or many times before the ritual is completed, the individual goes back to the everyday
actions of their lives with little to no regard for what just transpired. Just ask how many guys have snuck
a portable radio into service so they can still keep track of the big game while the preacher is giving his
sermon.
Nietzsche claims that it is exactly this tepid way of believing in anything is the reason why it is eroded
and eventually killed God. He believes that doing anything just because it is expected of you is only for
the weak minded and “herd” dwellers. In his mind, the real human being, the one that is superior, is the
one that believes and thinks on their own and requires no input or support from those around them.
Nietzsche describes the “herd” dweller as one that is fearful of the unknown and directionless world
that the death of God would bring. The inferior being clings to religion to provide comfort and direction
to an otherwise meaningless life. The world of the nihilist is a dark and lonely one for the herd dweller
and therefore life outside of the one we are living now is necessary to existence.
What of the real believers then, the true zealots that devote everything they have to their beliefs? Is
their belief not enough to keep God alive? Does every person have to have an unyielding belief in God
for he/she/it to exist? Here is where Nietzsche begins to run into difficulties with his argument.
Suppose it was God’s plan for us to branch out and explore the great mysteries he has laid out before us.
Why make such a complex and exciting world, and give us the free agency to decipher and break down
all that surrounds us? These are all arguments that have been posed to Nietzsche and his idea, and they
hold just as much logical validity as his.
Since Nietzsche does not try and disprove the existence of God, but rather chooses to blame us humans
for God’s demise, the only logic he has to defend himself is his belief that we are all just products of a
grand biological mistake and that nothing has a real design…another of his attacks on objectivism.
In short, although Nietzsche makes a compelling argument, he cannot rest on just that. He must go on to
use his theory of herd mentality and the mindlessness of “modern” man to raise his own version of
ideal. He tears away at objectivity, the concept of “truth” at all, and the ideals of altruism and
community. The use of the Parable only serves to confuse people more, his real message lost amid
grandiose monologue and colorful characters. The real message of casting away the invented realities
that limit us, and growing as a result of that freedom is washed out be the fact that so many cannot get
over the bold claim made in the beginning.
Nietzsche was not as negative and hopeless as everyone initially believes. He just did not lay it out in
plain sight. If he could have articulated more clearly his position, perhaps some of the controversy
would be behind us now.
“God is dead-Nietzsche”
“Nietzsche is dead-God”