NIETZSCHE, Friedrich - The Antichrist

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The Antichrist

by

Friedrich Nietzsche

Published 1895

translation by H.L. Mencken

Published 1920

PREFACE

This book belongs to the most rare of men. Perhaps not one of them is yet alive. It is possible that

they may be among those ho understand my !"arathustra!# ho could I $onfound myself ith

those ho are no sprouting ears%&&'irst the day after tomorro must $ome for me. (ome men are

born posthumously.

The $onditions under hi$h any one understands me) and necessarily understands me&&I kno

them only too ell. *ven to endure my seriousness) my passion) he must $arry intelle$tual integrity

to the verge of hardness. +e must be a$$ustomed to living on mountain tops&&and to looking upon

the ret$hed gabble of politi$s and nationalism as beneath him. +e must have be$ome indifferent,

he must never ask of the truth hether it brings profit to him or a fatality to him... +e must have anin$lination) born of strength) for -uestions that no one has the $ourage for, the $ourage for the

forbidden; predestination for the labyrinth. The eperien$e of seven solitudes. /e ears for ne

musi$. /e eyes for hat is most distant. ne $ons$ien$e for truths that have hitherto remained

unheard. And the ill to e$onomie in the grand manner&&to hold together his strength) his

enthusiasm...everen$e for self, love of self, absolute freedom of self.....

3ery ell) then4 of that sort only are my readers) my true readers) my readers foreordained# of hat

a$$ount are the rest?&&The rest are merely humanity.&&ne must make one6s self superior to

humanity) in poer) in loftiness of soul)&&in $ontempt.

'I*7I+ . /I*T"(+*.

1.

&&:et us look ea$h other in the fa$e. e are +yperboreans&&e kno ell enough ho remote our

pla$e is. !/either by land nor by ater ill you find the road to the +yperboreans!# even Pindar1)in

his day) kne thatmu$h about us. ;eyond the /orth) beyond the i$e) beyond death--our life) our

happiness...e have dis$overed that happiness, e kno the ay, e got our knoledge of it from

thousands of years in the labyrinth. ho else has found it%&&The man of today%&&!I don6t kno

either the ay out or the ay in, I am hatever doesn6t kno either the ay out or the ay in!&&so

sighs the man of today...Thisis the sort of modernity that made us ill)&&e si$kened on lay pea$e)

$oardly $ompromise) the hole virtuous dirtiness of the modern


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us. ather live amid the i$e than among modern virtues and other su$h south&inds4 . . . e ere

brave enough, e spared neither ourselves nor others, but e ere a long time finding out where to

dire$t our $ourage. e gre dismal, they $alled us fatalists. Our fate&&it as the fulness) the

tension) thestoring up of poers. e thirsted for the lightnings and great deeds, e kept as far as

possible from the happiness of the eakling) from !resignation! . . . There as thunder in our air,

nature) as e embodied it) be$ame over$ast&&for we had not yet found the way. The formula of ourhappiness# a .

The eak and the bot$hed shall perish# first prin$iple of our $harity. nd one should help them to

it.hat is more harmful than any vi$e%&&Pra$ti$al sympathy for the bot$hed and the eak&&

hristianity...

.

The problem that I set here is not hat shall repla$e mankind in the order of living $reatures =&&man

is an end&&># but hat type of man must be bred, must be willed, as being the most valuable) the

most orthy of life) the most se$ure guarantee of the future.

This more valuable type has appeared often enough in the past# but alays as a happy a$$ident) asan e$eption) never as deliberately willed. 3ery often it has been pre$isely the most feared, hitherto

it has been almost theterror of terrors ,&&and out of that terror the $ontrary type has been illed)

$ultivated and attained: the domesti$ animal) the herd animal) the si$k brute&man&&the hristian. . .

!.

?ankind surely does not represent an evolution toard a better or stronger or higher level) as

progress is no understood. This !progress! is merely a modern idea) hi$h is to say) a false idea.

The *uropean of today) in his essential orth) falls far belo the *uropean of the enaissan$e, the

pro$ess of evolution does not ne$essarily mean elevation) enhan$ement) strengthening.

True enough) it su$$eeds in isolated and individual $ases in various parts of the earth and under the

most idely different $ultures) and in these $ases a higher type $ertainly manifests itself,

something hi$h) $ompared to mankind in the mass) appears as a sort of superman. (u$h happy

strokes of high su$$ess have alays been possible) and ill remain possible) perhaps) for all time

to $ome. *ven hole ra$es) tribes and nations may o$$asionally represent su$h lu$ky a$$idents.

".

e should not de$k out and embellish hristianity# it has aged a ar to the death against this

higher type of man) it has put all the deepest instin$ts of this type under its ban) it has developed its

$on$ept of evil) of the *vil ne himself) out of these instin$ts&&the strong man as the typi$al

reprobate) the !out$ast among men.! hristianity has taken the part of all the eak) the lo) the


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bot$hed, it has made an ideal out of antagonism to all the self&preservative instin$ts of sound life, it

has $orrupted even the fa$ulties of those natures that are intelle$tually most vigorous) by

representing the highest intelle$tual values as sinful) as misleading) as full of temptation. The most

lamentable eample# the $orruption of Pas$al) ho believed that his intelle$t had been destroyed by

original sin) hereas it as a$tually destroyed by hristianity4&&

#.

It is a painful and tragi$ spe$ta$le that rises before me# I have dran ba$k the $urtain from the

rottenness of man. This ord) in my mouth) is at least free from one suspi$ion# that it involves a

moral a$$usation against humanity. It is used&&and I ish to emphasie the fa$t again&&ithout any

moral signifi$an$e# and this is so far true that the rottenness I speak of is most apparent to me

pre$isely in those -uarters here there has been most aspiration) hitherto) toard !virtue! and

!godliness.! s you probably surmise) I understand rottenness in the sense of decadence: my

argument is that all the values on hi$h mankind no fies its highest aspirations are decadence&

values.

I $all an animal) a spe$ies) an individual $orrupt) hen it loses its instin$ts) hen it $hooses) hen

itprefers, hat is in@urious to it. history of the !higher feelings)! the !ideals of humanity!&&and it

is possible that I6ll have to rite it&&ould almost eplain hy man is so degenerate. :ife itself

appears to me as an instin$t for groth) for survival) for the a$$umulation of for$es) for power:

henever the ill to poer fails there is disaster. ?y $ontention is that all the highest values of

humanity have been emptied of this ill&&that the values of decadence, of nihilism, no prevail

under the holiest names.

$.

hristianity is $alled the religion ofpity.&& Pity stands in opposition to all the toni$ passions that

augment the energy of the feeling of aliveness# it is a depressant. man loses poer hen he

pities. Through pity that drain upon strength hi$h suffering orks is multiplied a thousandfold.

(uffering is made $ontagious by pity, under $ertain $ir$umstan$es it may lead to a total sa$rifi$e of

life and living energy&&a loss out of all proportion to the magnitude of the $ause =&&the $ase of the

death of the /aarene>. This is the first vie of it, there is) hoever) a still more important one. If

one measures the effe$ts of pity by the gravity of the rea$tions it sets up) its $hara$ter as a mena$e

to life appears in a mu$h $learer light. Pity tharts the hole la of evolution) hi$h is the la of

natural sele$tion. It preserves hatever is ripe for destru$tion, it fights on the side of those

disinherited and $ondemned by life, by maintaining life in so many of the bot$hed of all kinds) it

gives life itself a gloomy and dubious aspe$t. ?ankind has ventured to $all pity a virtue =&&in everysuperior moral system it appears as a eakness&&>, going still further) it has been $alled the virtue)

the sour$e and foundation of all other virtues&&but let us alays bear in mind that this as from the

standpoint of a philosophy that as nihilisti$) and upon hose shield the denial of life as

ins$ribed. ($hopenhauer as right in this# that by means of pity life is denied) and made worthy of

denial--pity is the te$hni$ of nihilism. :et me repeat# this depressing and $ontagious instin$t stands

against all those instin$ts hi$h ork for the preservation and enhan$ement of life# in the role of

protector of the miserable) it is a prime agent in the promotion of decadence--pity persuades to

etin$tion....f $ourse) one doesn6t say !etin$tion!# one says !the other orld)! or !Aod)! or !the

true life)! or /irvana) salvation) blessedness.... This inno$ent rhetori$) from the realm of religious&

ethi$al balderdash) appears agood deal less innocent hen one refle$ts upon the tenden$y that it

$on$eals beneath sublime ords# the tenden$y to destroy life. ($hopenhauer as hostile to life# thatis hy pity appeared to him as a virtue. . . . ristotle) as every one knos) sa in pity a si$kly and


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mong Aermans I am immediately understood hen I say that theologi$al blood is the ruin of

philosophy. The Protestant pastor is the grandfather of Aerman philosophy, Protestantism itself is

itspeccatum originale. 7efinition of Protestantism# hemiplegi$ paralysis of hristianity&&and of

reason. ... ne need only utter the ords !Tubingen ($hool! to get an understanding of hat

Aerman philosophy is at bottom&&a very artful form of theology. . . The (uabians are the best liars

in Aermany, they lie inno$ently. . . . hy all the re@oi$ing over the appearan$e of Cant that entthrough the learned orld of Aermany) three&fourths of hi$h is made up of the sons of prea$hers

and tea$hers&&hy the Aerman $onvi$tion still e$hoing) that ith Cant $ame a $hange for the

better? The theologi$al instin$t of Aerman s$holars made them see $learly @ust what had be$ome

possible again. . . . ba$kstairs leading to the old ideal stood open, the $on$ept of the !true orld)!

the $on$ept of morality as the essen$e of the orld =&&the to most vi$ious errors that ever

eisted4>) ere on$e more) thanks to a subtle and ily s$epti$ism) if not a$tually demonstrable)

then at leastno longer refutable...eason) the prerogative of reason) does not go so far. . . ut of

reality there had been made !appearan$e!, an absolutely false orld) that of being) had been turned

into reality. . . . The su$$ess of Cant is merely a theologi$al su$$ess, he as) like :uther and

:eibnit) but one more impediment to Aerman integrity) already far from steady.&&

11.

ord no against Cant as a moralist. virtue must be ourinvention, it must spring out of our

personal need and defen$e. In every other $ase it is a sour$e of danger. That hi$h does not belong

to our life menaces it, a virtue hi$h has its roots in mere respe$t for the $on$ept of !virtue)! as

Cant ould have it) is perni$ious. !3irtue)! !duty)! !good for its on sake)! goodness grounded

upon impersonality or a notion of universal validity&&these are all $himeras) and in them one finds

only an epression of the de$ay) the last $ollapse of life) the hinese spirit of Conigsberg. Duite the

$ontrary is demanded by the most profound las of self&preservation and of groth# to it) that

every man find hisown virtue) his own $ategori$al imperative. nation goes to pie$es hen it

$onfounds its duty ith the general $on$ept of duty. /othing orks a more $omplete and

penetrating disaster than every !impersonal! duty) every sa$rifi$e before the ?olo$h of

abstra$tion.&&To think that no one has thought of Cant6s $ategori$al imperative as dangerous to

life!...The theologi$al instin$t alone took it under prote$tion 4&&n a$tion prompted by the life&

instin$t proves that it is a right a$tion by the amount of pleasure that goes ith it# and yet that

/ihilist) ith his boels of hristian dogmatism) regarded pleasure as an ob"ection . . . hat

destroys a man more -ui$kly than to ork) think and feel ithout inner ne$essity) ithout any deep

personal desire) ithout pleasure&&as a mere automaton of duty% That is the re$ipe for decadence,

and no less for idio$y. . . Cant be$ame an idiot.&&nd su$h a man as the $ontemporary of Aoethe4

This $alamitous spinner of $obebs passed for the Aerman philosopher&&still passes today4 . . . I

forbid myself to say hat I think of the Aermans. . . . 7idn6t Cant see in the 'ren$h evolution thetransformation of the state from the inorgani$ form to the organic? 7idn6t he ask himself if there

as a single event that $ould be eplained save on the assumption of a moral fa$ulty in man) so

that on the basis of it) !the tenden$y of mankind toard the good! $ould be e#plained, on$e and for

all time% Cant6s anser# !That is revolution.! Instin$t at fault in everything and anything) instin$t as

a revolt against nature) Aerman decadence as a philosophy&&that is$ant!----

12.

I put aside a fe s$epti$s) the types of de$en$y in the history of philosophy# the rest haven6t the

slightest $on$eption of intelle$tual integrity. They behave like omen) all these great enthusiasts

and prodigies&&they regard !beautiful feelings! as arguments) the !heaving breast! as the bellos ofdivine inspiration) $onvi$tion as the criterion of truth. In the end) ith !Aerman! inno$en$e) Cant


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tried to give a s$ientifi$ flavour to this form of $orruption) this dearth of intelle$tual $ons$ien$e) by

$alling it !pra$ti$al reason.! +e deliberately invented a variety of reasons for use on o$$asions

hen it as desirable not to trouble ith reason&&that is) hen morality) hen the sublime

$ommand !thou shalt)! as heard. hen one re$alls the fa$t that) among all peoples) the

philosopher is no more than a development from the old type of priest) this inheritan$e from the

priest) thisfraud upon self, $eases to be remarkable. hen a man feels that he has a divine mission)say to lift up) to save or to liberate mankind&&hen a man feels the divine spark in his heart and

believes that he is the mouthpie$e of supernatural imperatives&&hen su$h a mission in. flames

him) it is only natural that he should stand beyond all merely reasonable standards of @udgment. +e

feels that he is himself san$tified by this mission) that he is himself a type of a higher order4 . . .

hat has a priest to do ith philosophy4 +e stands far above it4&&nd hitherto the priest has

ruled!--+ehas determined the meaning of !true! and !not true!4

1.

:et us not under&estimate this fa$t# that we ourselves, e free spirits) are already a !transvaluation

of all values)! a visuali%ed de$laration of war and vi$tory against all the old $on$epts of !true! and!not true.! The most valuable intuitions are the last to be attained, the most valuable of all are those

hi$h determine methods. ll the methods) all the prin$iples of the s$ientifi$ spirit of today) ere

the targets for thousands of years of the most profound $ontempt, if a man in$lined to them he as

e$luded from the so$iety of !de$ent! people&&he passed as !an enemy of Aod)! as a s$offer at the

truth) as one !possessed.! s a man of s$ien$e) he belonged to the handala2... e have had the

hole patheti$ stupidity of mankind against us&&their every notion of hat the truth ought to be) of

hat the servi$e of the truth ought to be&&their every !thou shalt! as laun$hed against us. . . . ur

ob@e$tives) our methods) our -uiet) $autious) distrustful manner&&all appeared to them as absolutely

dis$reditable and $ontemptible.&&:ooking ba$k) one may almost ask one6s self ith reason if it as

not a$tually an aesthetic sense that kept men blind so long# hat they demanded of the truth as

pi$tures-ue effe$tiveness) and of the learned a strong appeal to their senses. It as our modesty that

stood out longest against their taste...+o ell they guessed that) these turkey&$o$ks of Aod4

1!.

e have unlearned something. e have be $ome more modest in every ay. e no longer derive

man from the !spirit)! from the !god&head!, e have dropped him ba$k among the beasts. e

regard him as the strongest of the beasts be$ause he is the $raftiest, one of the results thereof is his

intelle$tuality. n the other hand) e guard ourselves against a $on$eit hi$h ould assert itself

even here# that man is the great se$ond thought in the pro$ess of organi$ evolution. +e is) in truth)

anything but the $ron of $reation# beside him stand many other animals) all at similar stages ofdevelopment... nd even hen e say that e say a bit too mu$h) for man) relatively speaking) is

the most bot$hed of all the animals and the si$kliest) and he has andered the most dangerously

from his instin$ts&&though for all that) to be sure) he remains the most interesting!&&s regards the

loer animals) it as 7es$artes ho first had the really admirable daring to des$ribe them as

machina; the hole of our physiology is dire$ted toard proving the truth of this do$trine.

?oreover) it is illogi$al to set man apart) as 7es$artes did# hat e kno of man today is limited

pre$isely by the etent to hi$h e have regarded him) too) as a ma$hine. 'ormerly e a$$orded to

man) as his inheritan$e from some higher order of beings) hat as $alled !free ill!, no e

have taken even this ill from him) for the term no longer des$ribes anything that e $an

understand. The old ord !ill! no $onnotes only a sort of result) an individual rea$tion) that

follos inevitably upon a series of partly dis$ordant and partly harmonious stimuli&&the ill nolonger !a$ts)! or !moves.! . . . 'ormerly it as thought that man6s $ons$iousness) his !spirit)!
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offered eviden$e of his high origin) his divinity. That he might be perfected, he as advised)

tortoise&like) to dra his senses in) to have no traffi$ ith earthly things) to shuffle off his mortal

$oil&&then only the important part of him) the !pure spirit)! ould remain. +ere again e have

thought out the thing better# to us $ons$iousness) or !the spirit)! appears as a symptom of a relative

imperfe$tion of the organism) as an eperiment) a groping) a misunderstanding) as an affli$tion

hi$h uses up nervous for$e unne$essarily&&e deny that anything $an be done perfe$tly so long asit is done $ons$iously. The !pure spirit! is a pie$e of pure stupidity# take aay the nervous system

and the senses) the so&$alled !mortal shell)! and the rest is miscalculation--thatis all4...

1".

Bnder hristianity neither morality nor religion has any point of $onta$t ith a$tuality. It offers

purely imaginary causes =!Aod! !soul)! !ego)! !spirit)! !free ill!&&or even !unfree!>) and purely

imaginary effects =!sin! !salvation! !gra$e)! !punishment)! !forgiveness of sins!>. Inter$ourse

beteen imaginarybeings =!Aod)! !spirits)! !souls!>, an imaginarynatural history =anthropo$entri$,

a total denial of the $on$ept of natural $auses>, an imaginary psychology =misunderstandings of

self) misinterpretations of agreeable or disagreeable general feelings&&for eample) of the states ofthe nervus sympathicus ith the help of the sign&language of religio&ethi$al balderdash&&)

!repentan$e)! !pangs of $ons$ien$e)! !temptation by the devil)! !the presen$e of Aod!>, an

imaginaryteleology =the !kingdom of Aod)! !the last @udgment)! !eternal life!>.&&This purely

fictitious world, greatly to its disadvantage) is to be differentiated from the orld of dreams, the

later at least refle$ts reality) hereas the former falsifies it) $heapens it and denies it. n$e the

$on$ept of !nature! had been opposed to the $on$ept of !Aod)! the ord !natural! ne$essarily took

on the meaning of !abominable!&&the hole of that fi$titious orld has its sour$es in hatred of the

natural =&&the real4&&>) and is no more than eviden$e of a profound uneasiness in the presen$e of

reality. . . . This e#plains everything. ho alone has any reason for living his ay out of reality%

The man ho suffers under it. ;ut to suffer from reality one must be a botched reality. . . . The

preponderan$e of pains over pleasures is the $ause of this fi$titious morality and religion# but su$h

a preponderan$e also supplies the formula for decadence...

1#.

$riti$ism of the &hristian concept of 'od leads inevitably to the same $on$lusion.&& nation that

still believes in itself holds fast to its on god. In him it does honour to the $onditions hi$h

enable it to survive) to its virtues&&it pro@e$ts its @oy in itself) its feeling of poer) into a being to

hom one may offer thanks. +e ho is ri$h ill give of his ri$hes, a proud people need a god to

hom they $an makesacrifices. . . eligion) ithin these limits) is a form of gratitude. man is

grateful for his on eisten$e# to that end he needs a god.&&(u$h a god must be able to ork bothbenefits and in@uries, he must be able to play either friend or foe&&he is ondered at for the good he

does as ell as for the evil he does. ;ut the $astration) against all nature) of su$h a god) making

him a god of goodness alone) ould be $ontrary to human in$lination. ?ankind has @ust as mu$h

need for an evil god as for a good god, it doesn6t have to thank mere toleran$e and humanitarianism

for its on eisten$e. . . . hat ould be the value of a god ho kne nothing of anger) revenge)

envy) s$orn) $unning) violen$e% ho had perhaps never eperien$ed the rapturous ardeurs of

vi$tory and of destru$tion% /o one ould understand su$h a god# hy should any one ant him%&&

True enough) hen a nation is on the donard path) hen it feels its belief in its on future) its

hope of freedom slipping from it) hen it begins to see submission as a first ne$essity and the

virtues of submission as measures of self&preservation) then it must overhaul its god. +e then

be$omes a hypo$rite) timorous and demure, he $ounsels !pea$e of soul)! hate&no&more) lenien$y)!love! of friend and foe. +e moralies endlessly, he $reeps into every private virtue, he be$omes


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the god of every man, he be$omes a private $itien) a $osmopolitan. . . 'ormerly he represented a

people) the strength of a people) everything aggressive and thirsty for poer in the soul of a

people, no he is simply the good god...The truth is that there is no other alternative for gods#

either they are the ill to poer&&in hi$h $ase they are national gods&&or in$apa$ity for poer&&in

hi$h $ase they have to be good.

1$.

herever the ill to poer begins to de$line) in hatever form) there is alays an a$$ompanying

de$line physiologi$ally) a decadence. The divinity of this decadence, shorn of its mas$uline virtues

and passions) is $onverted perfor$e into a god of the physiologi$ally degraded) of the eak. f

$ourse) they do not call themselves the eak, they $all themselves !the good.! . . . /o hint is

needed to indi$ate the moments in history at hi$h the dualisti$ fi$tion of a good and an evil god

first be$ame possible. The same instin$t hi$h prompts the inferior to redu$e their on god to

!goodness&in&itself! also prompts them to eliminate all good -ualities from the god of their

superiors, they make revenge on their masters by making a devil of the latter6s god.&&Thegood god)

and the devil like him&&both are abortions of decadence.&&+o $an e be so tolerant of the naEvetFof hristian theologians as to @oin in their do$trine that the evolution of the $on$ept of god from

!the god of Israel)! the god of a people) to the hristian god) the essen$e of all goodness) is to be

des$ribed as progress?--(ut even enan does this. s if enan had a right to be naEve4 The

$ontrary a$tually stares one in the fa$e. hen everything ne$essary to ascending life, hen all that

is strong) $ourageous) masterful and proud has been eliminated from the $on$ept of a god, hen he

has sunk step by step to the level of a staff for the eary) a sheet&an$hor for the droning, hen he

be $omes the poor man6s god) the sinner6s god) the invalid6s godpar e#cellence, and the attribute of

!saviour! or !redeemer! remains as the one essential attribute of divinity&&@ust what is the

signifi$an$e of su$h a metamorphosis% hat does su$h a reduction of the godhead imply%&&To be

sure) the !kingdom of Aod! has thus gron larger. 'ormerly he had only his on people) his

!$hosen! people. ;ut sin$e then he has gone andering) like his people themselves) into foreign

parts, he has given up settling don -uietly anyhere, finally he has $ome to feel at home

everyhere) and is the great $osmopolitan&&until no he has the !great ma@ority! on his side) and

half the earth. ;ut this god of the !great ma@ority)! this demo$rat among gods) has not be$ome a

proud heathen god# on the $ontrary) he remains a Ge) he remains a god in a $orner) a god of all the

dark nooks and $revi$es) of all the noisesome -uarters of the orld4 . . +is earthly kingdom) no

as alays) is a kingdom of the underorld) a souterrain kingdom) a ghetto kingdom. . . nd he

himself is so pale) so eak) so decadent . . . *ven the palest of the pale are able to master him&&

messieurs the metaphysi$ians) those albinos of the intelle$t. They spun their ebs around him for

so long that finally he as hypnotied) and began to spin himself) and be$ame another

metaphysi$ian. Thereafter he resumed on$e more his old business of spinning the orld out of hisinmost being sub specie )pino%ae; thereafter he be $ame ever thinner and paler&&be$ame the

!ideal)! be$ame !pure spirit)! be$ame !the absolute)! be$ame !the thing&in&itself.! . . . The collapse

of a god: he be$ame a !thing&in&itself.!

1%.

The hristian $on$ept of a god&&the god as the patron of the si$k) the god as a spinner of $obebs)

the god as a spirit&&is one of the most $orrupt $on$epts that has ever been set up in the orld# it

probably tou$hes lo&ater mark in the ebbing evolution of the god&type. Aod degenerated into

the contradiction of life. Instead of being its transfiguration and eternal


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and no)! and for every lie about the !beyond!4 In him nothingness is deified) and the ill to

nothingness is made holy4 . . .

1&.

The fa$t that the strong ra$es of northern *urope did not repudiate this hristian god does little$redit to their gift for religion&&and not mu$h more to their taste. They ought to have been able to

make an end of su$h a moribund and orn&out produ$t of the decadence. $urse lies upon them

be$ause they ere not e-ual to it, they made illness) de$repitude and $ontradi$tion a part of their

instin$ts&&and sin$e then they have not managed to create any more gods. To thousand years have

$ome and gone&&and not a single ne god4 Instead) there still eists) and as if by some intrinsi$

right)&&as if he ere the ultimatum and ma#imum of the poer to $reate gods) of the creator

spiritus in mankind&&this pitiful god of hristian monotono&theism4 This hybrid image of de$ay)

$on@ured up out of emptiness) $ontradi$tion and vain imagining) in hi$h all the instin$ts of

decadence, all the $oardi$es and earinesses of the soul find their san$tion4&&

2'.

In my $ondemnation of hristianity I surely hope I do no in@usti$e to a related religion ith an

even larger number of believers# I allude to(uddhism. ;oth are to be re$koned among the nihilisti$

religions&&they are both decadence religions&&but they are separated from ea$h other in a very

remarkable ay. 'or the fa$t that he is able to compare them at all the $riti$ of hristianity is

indebted to the s$holars of India.&&;uddhism is a hundred times as realisti$ as hristianity&&it is

part of its living heritage that it is able to fa$e problems ob@e$tively and $oolly, it is the produ$t of

long $enturies of philosophi$al spe$ulation. The $on$ept) !god)! as already disposed of before it

appeared. ;uddhism is the only genuinelypositive religion to be en$ountered in history) and this

applies even to its epistemology =hi$h is a stri$t phenomenalism> &&It does not speak of a!struggle ith sin)! but) yielding to reality) of the !struggle ith suffering.! (harply differentiating

itself from hristianity) it puts the self&de$eption that lies in moral $on$epts be hind it, it is) in my

phrase)beyond good and evil.&&The to physiologi$al fa$ts upon hi$h it grounds itself and upon

hi$h it bestos its $hief attention are# first) an e$essive sensitiveness to sensation) hi$h

manifests itself as a refined sus$eptibility to pain) andsecondly, an etraordinary spirituality) a too

protra$ted $on$ern ith $on$epts and logi$al pro$edures) under the influen$e of hi$h the instin$t

of personality has yielded to a notion of the !impersonal.! =&&;oth of these states ill be familiar to

a fe of my readers) the ob@e$tivists) by eperien$e) as they are to me>. These physiologi$al states

produ$ed a depression, and ;uddha tried to $ombat it by hygieni$ measures. gainst it he

pres$ribed a life in the open) a life of travel, moderation in eating and a $areful sele$tion of foods,

$aution in the use of intoi$ants, the same $aution in arousing any of the passions that foster abilious habit and heat the blood, finally) no worry, either on one6s on a$$ount or on a$$ount of

others. +e en$ourages ideas that make for either -uiet $ontentment or good $heer&&he finds means

to $ombat ideas of other sorts. +e understands good) the state of goodness) as something hi$h

promotes health. *rayer is not in$luded) and neither is asceticism. There is no $ategori$al

imperative nor any dis$iplines) even ithin the alls of a monastery =&&it is alays possible to

leave&&>. These things ould have been simply means of in$reasing the e$essive sensitiveness

above mentioned. 'or the same reason he does not advo$ate any $onfli$t ith unbelievers, his

tea$hing is antagonisti$ to nothing so mu$h as to revenge) aversion) ressentiment =&&!enmity never

brings an end to enmity!# the moving refrain of all ;uddhism. . .> nd in all this he as right) for it

is pre$isely these passions hi$h) in vie of his main regiminal purpose) are unhealthful. The

mental fatigue that he observes) already plainly displayed in too mu$h !ob@e$tivity! =that is) in theindividual6s loss of interest in himself) in loss of balan$e and of !egoism!>) he $ombats by strong


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as changed--the $on$eption of him as denaturi%ed; this as the pri$e that had to be paid for

keeping him.&&Gahveh) the god of !@usti$e!&&he is in a$$ord ith Israel no more, he no longer

visualies the national egoism, he is no a god only $onditionally. . . The publi$ notion of this god

no be$omes merely a eapon in the hands of $leri$al agitators) ho interpret all happiness as a

reard and all unhappiness as a punishment for obedien$e or disobedien$e to him) for !sin!# that

most fraudulent of all imaginable interpretations) hereby a !moral order of the orld! is set up)and the fundamental $on$epts) !$ause! and !effe$t)! are stood on their heads. n$e natural

$ausation has been sept out of the orld by do$trines of reard and punishment some sort of

unnatural $ausation be$omes ne$essary# and all other varieties of the denial of nature follo it.

god ho demands--in pla$e of a god ho helps) ho gives $ounsel) ho is at bottom merely a

name for every happy inspiration of $ourage and self&relian$e. . ./orality is no longer a refle$tion

of the $onditions hi$h make for the sound life and development of the people, it is no longer the

primary life&instin$t, instead it has be$ome abstra$t and in opposition to life&&a fundamental

perversion of the fan$y) an !evil eye! on all things. hat is Geish) what is hristian morality%

han$e robbed of its inno$en$e, unhappiness polluted ith the idea of !sin!, ell&being

represented as a danger) as a !temptation!, a physiologi$al disorder produ$ed by the $anker orm

of $ons$ien$e...

2#.

The $on$ept of god falsified, the $on$ept of morality falsified ,&&but even here Geish priest $raft

did not stop. The hole history of Israel $eased to be of any value# out ith it4&&These priests

a$$omplished that mira$le of falsifi$ation of hi$h a great part of the ;ible is the do$umentary

eviden$e, ith a degree of $ontempt unparalleled) and in the fa$e of all tradition and all histori$al

reality) they translated the past of their people into religious terms) hi$h is to say) they $onverted

it into an idioti$ me$hanism of salvation) hereby all offen$es against Gahveh ere punished and

all devotion to him as rearded. e ould regard this a$t of histori$al falsifi$ation as something

far more shameful if familiarity ith the ecclesiastical interpretation of history for thousands of

years had not blunted our in$linations for uprightness in historicis. nd the philosophers support

the $hur$h# the lie about a !moral order of the orld! runs through the hole of philosophy) even

the neest. hat is the meaning of a !moral order of the orld!% That there is a thing $alled the

ill of Aod hi$h) on$e and for all time) determines hat man ought to do and hat he ought not

to do, that the orth of a people) or of an individual thereof) is to he measured by the etent to

hi$h they or he obey this ill of Aod, that the destinies of a people or of an individual

arecontrolledby this ill of Aod) hi$h reards or punishes a$$ording to the degree of obedien$e

manifested.&&In pla$e of all that pitiable lie reality has this to say# thepriest, a parasiti$al variety of

man ho $an eist only at the $ost of every sound vie of life) takes the name of Aod in vain# he

$alls that state of human so$iety in hi$h he himself determines the value of all things !thekingdom of Aod!, he $alls the means hereby that state of affairs is attained !the ill of Aod!,

ith $old&blooded $yni$ism he estimates all peoples) all ages and all individuals by the etent of

their subservien$e or opposition to the poer of the priestly order. ne observes him at ork#

under the hand of the Geish priesthood thegreat age of Israel be$ame an age of de$line, the *ile)

ith its long series of misfortunes) as transformed into a punishment for that great age&during

hi$h priests had not yet $ome into eisten$e. ut of the poerful and wholly free heroes of

Israel6s history they fashioned) a$$ording to their $hanging needs) either ret$hed bigots and

hypo$rites or men entirely !godless.! They redu$ed every great event to the idioti$ formula#

!obedient or disobedient to Aod.!&&They ent a step further# the !ill of Aod! =in other ords

some means ne$essary for preserving the poer of the priests> had to be determined--and to this

end they had to have a !revelation.! In plain *nglish) a giganti$ literary fraud had to be perpetrated)and !holy s$riptures! had to be $on$o$ted&&and so) ith the utmost hierar$hi$al pomp) and days of


14/41

penan$e and mu$h lamentation over the long days of !sin! no ended) they ere duly published.

The !ill of Aod)! it appears) had long stood like a ro$k, the trouble as that mankind had

negle$ted the !holy s$riptures!. . . ;ut the 66ill of Aod66 had already been revealed to ?oses. . . .

hat happened% (imply this# the priest had formulated) on$e and for all time and ith the stri$test

meti$ulousness) hat tithes ere to be paid to him) from the largest to the smallest =&&not forgetting

the most appetiing $uts of meat) for the priest is a great $onsumer of beefsteaks>, in brief) he let itbe knon @ust what he wanted, hat !the ill of Aod! as.... 'rom this time forard things ere

so arranged that the priest be$ame indispensable everywhere; at all the great natural events of life)

at birth) at marriage) in si$kness) at death) not to say at the 0sacrifice0 =that is) at meal&times>) the

holy parasite put in his appearan$e) and pro$eeded to denaturi%e it&&in his on phrase) to !san$tify!

it. . . . 'or this should be noted# that every natural habit) every natural institution =the state) the

administration of @usti$e) marriage) the $are of the si$k and of the poor>) everything demanded by

the life&instin$t) in short) everything that has any value in itself, is redu$ed to absolute

orthlessness and even made the reverse of valuable by the parasitism of priests =or) if you $hose)

by the !moral order of the orld!>. The fa$t re-uires a san$tion&&a poer to grant valuesbe$omes

ne$essary) and the only ay it $an $reate su$h values is by denying nature. . . . The priest

depre$iates and dese$rates nature# it is only at this pri$e that he $an eist at all.&&7isobedien$e toAod) hi$h a$tually means to the priest) to !the la)! no gets the name of !sin!, the means

pres$ribed for !re$on$iliation ith Aod! are) of $ourse) pre$isely the means hi$h bring one most

effe$tively under the thumb of the priest, he alone $an !save!. Psy$hologi$ally $onsidered) !sins!

are indispensable to every so$iety organied on an e$$lesiasti$al basis, they are the only reliable

eapons of poer, the priest lives upon sins, it is ne$essary to him that there be !sinning!. . . .

Prime aiom# !Aod forgiveth him that repenteth!&&in plain *nglish) him that submitteth to the

priest.

2$.

hristianity sprang from a soil so $orrupt that on it everything natural) every natural value) every

reality as opposed by the deepest instin$ts of the ruling $lass&&it gre up as a sort of ar to the

death upon reality) and as su$h it has never been surpassed. The !holy people)! ho had adopted

priestly values and priestly names for all things) and ho) ith a terrible logi$al $onsisten$y) had

re@e$ted everything of the earth as !unholy)! !orldly)! !sinful!&&this people put its instin$t into a

final formula that as logi$al to the point of self&annihilation# as&hristianity it a$tually denied

even the last form of reality) the !holy people)! the !$hosen people)! ewish reality itself. The

phenomenon is of the first order of importan$e# the small insurre$tionary movement hi$h took the

name of Gesus of /aareth is simply the Geish instin$t redivivus--in other ords) it is the priestly

instin$t $ome to su$h a pass that it $an no longer endure the priest as a fa$t, it is the dis$overy of a

state of eisten$e even more fantasti$ than any before it) of a vision of life even more unreal thanthat ne$essary to an e$$lesiasti$al organiation. hristianity a$tually denies the $hur$h...

I am unable to determine hat as the target of the insurre$tion said to have been led =hether

rightly or wrongly1by Gesus) if it as not the Geish $hur$h&&!$hur$h! being here used in ea$tly

the same sense that the ord has today. It as an insurre$tion against the !good and @ust)! against

the !prophets of Israel)! against the hole hierar$hy of so$iety&&not against $orruption) but against

$aste) privilege) order) formalism. It as unbelief in !superior men)! a /ay flung at everything that

priests and theologians stood for. ;ut the hierar$hy that as $alled into -uestion) if only for an

instant) by this movement as the stru$ture of piles hi$h) above everything) as ne$essary to the

safety of the Geish people in the midst of the !aters!&&it represented theirlast possibility of

survival, it as the final residuum of their independent politi$al eisten$e, an atta$k upon it as anatta$k upon the most profound national instin$t) the most poerful national ill to live) that has


15/41

ever appeared on earth. This saintly anar$hist) ho aroused the people of the abyss) the out$asts

and !sinners)! the handala of Gudaism) to rise in revolt against the established order of things&&and

in language hi$h) if the Aospels are to be $redited) ould get him sent to (iberia today&&this man

as $ertainly a politi$al $riminal) at least in so far as it as possible to be one in so absurdly

unpolitical a $ommunity. This is hat brought him to the $ross# the proof thereof is to be found in

the ins$ription that as put upon the $ross. +e died for his own sins&&there is not the slightestground for believing) no matter ho often it is asserted) that he died for the sins of others.&&

2%.

s to hether he himself as $ons$ious of this $ontradi$tion&&hether) in fa$t) this as the only

$ontradi$tion he as $ogniant of&&that is -uite another -uestion. +ere) for the first time) I tou$h

upon the problem of thepsychology of the )aviour.--I $onfess) to begin ith) that there are very

fe books hi$h offer me harder reading than the Aospels. ?y diffi$ulties are -uite different from

those hi$h enabled the learned $uriosity of the Aerman mind to a$hieve one of its most

unforgettable triumphs. It is a long hile sin$e I) like all other young s$holars) en@oyed ith all the

sapient laboriousness of a fastidious philologist the ork of the in$omparable (trauss.5t that timeI as tenty years old# no I am too serious for that sort of thing. hat do I $are for the

$ontradi$tions of !tradition!% +o $an any one $all pious legends !traditions!% The histories of

saints present the most dubious variety of literature in eisten$e, to eamine them by the s$ientifi$

method) in the entire absence of corroborative documents, seems to me to $ondemn the hole

in-uiry from the start&&it is simply learned idling.

2&.

hat $on$erns me is the psy$hologi$al type of the (aviour. This type might be depi$ted in the

Aospels) in hoever mutilated a form and hoever mu$h overladen ith etraneous $hara$ters&&that is) inspite of the Aospels, @ust as the figure of 'ran$is of ssisi shos itself in his legends in

spite of his legends. It is not a -uestion of mere truthful eviden$e as to hat he did) hat he said

and ho he a$tually died, the -uestion is) hether his type is still $on$eivable) hether it has been

handed don to us.&&ll the attempts that I kno of to read the history of a !soul! in the Aospels

seem to me to reveal only a lamentable psy$hologi$al levity. ?. enan) that mountebank in

psychologicus, has $ontributed the to most unseemly notions to this business of eplaining the

type of Gesus# the notion of the genius and that of the hero 0heros01. ;ut if there is anything

essentially unevangeli$al) it is surely the $on$ept of the hero. hat the Aospels make instin$tive is

pre$isely the reverse of all heroi$ struggle) of all taste for $onfli$t# the very in$apa$ity for

resistan$e is here $onverted into something moral# =!resist not evil 4!&&the most profound senten$e

in the Aospels) perhaps the true key to them>) to it) the blessedness of pea$e) of gentleness) theinability to be an enemy. hat is the meaning of !glad tidings!%&&The true life) the life eternal has

been found&&it is not merely promised) it is here) it is in you; it is the life that lies in love free from

all retreats and e$lusions) from all keeping of distan$es. *very one is the $hild of Aod&&Gesus

$laims nothing for himself alone&&as the $hild of Aod ea$h man is the e-ual of every other

man. . . .Imagine making Gesus a hero!&&nd hat a tremendous misunderstanding appears in the

ord !genius!4 ur hole $on$eption of the !spiritual)! the hole $on$eption of our $iviliation)

$ould have had no meaning in the orld that Gesus lived in. In the stri$t sense of the physiologist) a

-uite different ord ought to be used here. . . . e all kno that there is a morbid sensibility of the

ta$tile nerves hi$h $auses those suffering from it to re$oil from every tou$h) and from every effort

to grasp a solid ob@e$t. ;rought to its logi$al $on$lusion) su$h a physiologi$al habitusbe$omes an

instin$tive hatred of all reality) a flight into the !intangible)! into the !in$omprehensible!, a distastefor all formulae) for all $on$eptions of time and spa$e) for everything established&&$ustoms)
http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f5%23f5http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f5%23f5


16/41

institutions) the $hur$h&&, a feeling of being at home in a orld in hi$h no sort of reality survives)

a merely !inner! orld) a !true! orld) an !eternal! orld. . . . !The Cingdom of Aod is

ithinyou0. . . .

'.

The instinctive hatred of reality: the $onse-uen$e of an etreme sus$eptibility to pain and

irritation&&so great that merely to be !tou$hed! be$omes unendurable) for every sensation is too

profound.

The instinctive e#clusion of all aversion, all hostility, all bounds and distances in feeling: the

$onse-uen$e of an etreme sus$eptibility to pain and irritation&&so great that it senses all resistan$e)

all $ompulsion to resistan$e) as unbearable anguish =&&that is to say) as harmful, as prohibited by

the instin$t of self&preservation>) and regards blessedness =@oy> as possible only hen it is no

longer ne$essary to offer resistan$e to anybody or anything) hoever evil or dangerous&&love) as

the only) as the ultimatepossibility of life. . .

These are the to physiological realities upon and out of hi$h the do$trine of salvation has

sprung. I $all them a sublime super&development of hedonism upon a thoroughly unsalubrious soil.

hat stands most $losely related to them) though ith a large admiture of Areek vitality and

nerve&for$e) is epi$ureanism) the theory of salvation of paganism. *pi$urus as a typical decadent:

I as the first to re$ognie him.&&The fear of pain) even of infinitely slight pain&&the end of this can

be nothing save a religion of love. . . .

1.

I have already given my anser to the problem. The prere-uisite to it is the assumption that thetype of the (aviour has rea$hed us only in a greatly distorted form. This distortion is very probable#

there are many reasons hy a type of that sort should not be handed don in a pure form) $omplete

and free of additions. The milieu in hi$h this strange figure moved must have left marks upon

him) and more must have been imprinted by the history) the destiny, of the early hristian

$ommunities, the latter indeed) must have embellished the type retrospe$tively ith $hara$ters

hi$h $an be understood only as serving the purposes of ar and of propaganda. That strange and

si$kly orld into hi$h the Aospels lead us&&a orld apparently out of a ussian novel) in hi$h

the s$um of so$iety) nervous maladies and !$hildish! idio$y keep a tryst&&must) in any $ase) have

coarsened the type# the first dis$iples) in parti$ular) must have been for$ed to translate an eisten$e

visible only in symbols and in$omprehensibilities into their on $rudity) in order to understand it at

all&&in their sight the type $ould take on reality only after it had been re$ast in a familiar mould....The prophet) the messiah) the future @udge) the tea$her of morals) the orker of onders) Gohn the

;aptist&&all these merely presented $han$es to misunderstand it . . . . 'inally) let us not underrate

the proprium of all great) and espe$ially all se$tarian veneration# it tends to erase from the

venerated ob@e$ts all its original traits and idiosyn$rasies) often so painfully strange&&it does not

even see them. It is greatly to be regretted that no 7ostoyevsky lived in the neighbourhood of this

most interesting decadent--2 mean some one ho ould have felt the poignant $harm of su$h a

$ompound of the sublime) the morbid and the $hildish. In the last analysis) the type) as a type of the

decadence, may a$tually have been pe$uliarly $omple and $ontradi$tory# su$h a possibility is not

to be lost sight of. /evertheless) the probabilities seem to be against it) for in that $ase tradition

ould have been parti$ularly a$$urate and ob@e$tive) hereas e have reasons for assuming the

$ontrary. ?eanhile) there is a $ontradi$tion beteen the pea$eful prea$her of the mount) the sea&shore and the fields) ho appears like a ne ;uddha on a soil very unlike India6s) and the


17/41

aggressive fanati$) the mortal enemy of theologians and e$$lesiasti$s) ho stands glorified by

enan6s mali$e as 0le grand maitre en ironie.0 I myself haven6t any doubt that the greater part of

this venom =and no less of esprit1 got itself into the $on$ept of the ?aster only as a result of the

e$ited nature of hristian propaganda# e all kno the uns$rupulousness of se$tarians hen they

set out to turn their leader into an apologia for themselves. hen the early hristians had need of

an adroit) $ontentious) pugna$ious and mali$iously subtle theologian to ta$kle other theologians)they created a !god! that met that need) @ust as they put into his mouth ithout hesitation $ertain

ideas that ere ne$essary to them but that ere utterly at odds ith the Aospels&&!the se$ond

$oming)! !the last @udgment)! all sorts of epe$tations and promises) $urrent at the time.&&

2.

I $an only repeat that I set myself against all efforts to intrude the fanati$ into the figure of the

(aviour# the very ord imperieu#, used by enan) is alone enough to annul the type. hat the

!glad tidings! tell us is simply that there are no more $ontradi$tions, the kingdom of heaven

belongs to children; the faith that is voi$ed here is no more an embattled faith&&it is at hand) it has

been from the beginning) it is a sort of re$rudes$ent $hildishness of the spirit. The physiologists) atall events) are familiar ith su$h a delayed and in$omplete puberty in the living organism) the

result of degeneration. faith of this sort is not furious) it does not denoun$e) it does not defend

itself# it does not $ome ith !the sord!&&it does not realie ho it ill one day set man against

man. It does not manifest itself either by mira$les) or by reards and promises) or by !s$riptures!#

it is itself) first and last) its on mira$le) its on reard) its on promise) its on !kingdom of

Aod.! This faith does not formulate itself&&it simply lives, and so guards itself against formulae. To

be sure) the a$$ident of environment) of edu$ational ba$kground gives prominen$e to $on$epts of a

$ertain sort# in primitive hristianity one finds only $on$epts of a Gudaeo&&(emiti$ $hara$ter =&&that

of eating and drinking at the last supper belongs to this $ategory&&an idea hi$h) like everything

else Geish) has been badly mauled by the $hur$h>. ;ut let us be $areful not to see in all this

anything more than symboli$al language) semanti$sKan opportunity to speak in parables. It is only

on the theory that no ork is to be taken literally that this anti&realist is able to speak at all. (et

don among +indus he ould have made use of the $on$epts of (ankhya) Hand among hinese he

ould have employed those of :ao&tse8&&and in neither $ase ould it have made any differen$e to

him.&&ith a little freedom in the use of ords) one might a$tually $all Gesus a !free spirit! 9&&he

$ares nothing for hat is established# the ord +illeth,10a hatever is established +illeth. 6The idea

of !life! as an e#perience, as he alone $on$eives it) stands opposed to his mind to every sort of

ord) formula) la) belief and dogma. +e speaks only of inner things# !life! or !truth! or !light! is

his ord for the innermost&&in his sight everything else) the hole of reality) all nature) even

language) has signifi$an$e only as sign) as allegory. &&+ere it is of paramount importan$e to be led

into no error by the temptations lying in hristian) or rather ecclesiastical pre@udi$es# su$h asymbolismpar e#cellence stands outside all religion) all notions of orship) all history) all natural

s$ien$e) all orldly eperien$e) all knoledge) all politi$s) all psy$hology) all books) all art&&his

!isdom! is pre$isely a pure ignorance11 of all su$h things. +e has never heard of culture; he

doesn6t have to make ar on it&&he doesn6t even deny it. . . The same thing may be said of the state)

of the hole bourgeoise so$ial order) of labour) of ar&&he has no ground for denying! the orld)!

for he knos nothing of the e$$lesiasti$al $on$ept of !the orld! . . . 3enial is pre$isely the thing

that is impossible to him.&&In the same ay he la$ks argumentative $apa$ity) and has no belief that

an arti$le of faith) a !truth)! may be established by proofs --hisproofs are inner !lights)! sub@e$tive

sensations of happiness and self&approval) simple !proofs of poer!&&>. (u$h a do$trine cannot

$ontradi$t# it doesn6t kno that other do$trines eist) or can eist) and is holly in$apable of

imagining anything opposed to it. . . If anything of the sort is ever en$ountered) it laments the!blindness! ith sin$ere sympathy&&for it alone has !light!&&but it does not offer ob@e$tions . . .
http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f6%23f6http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f7%23f7http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f8%23f8http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f8%23f8http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f9%23f9http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f10%23f10http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f11%23f11http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f6%23f6http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f7%23f7http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f8%23f8http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f9%23f9http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f10%23f10http://carti.x6.ro/cartea/n/Nietzsche,%20Friedrich/The%20Antichrist.html#f11%23f11


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.

In the hole psy$hology of the !Aospels! the $on$epts of guilt and punishment are la$king) and so

is that of reard. !(in)! hi$h means anything that puts a distan$e beteen Aod and man) is

abolished&&this isprecisely the 0glad tidings.0 *ternal bliss is not merely promised) nor is it bound

up ith $onditions# it is $on$eived as the only reality&&hat remains $onsists merely of signs usefulin speaking of it.

The results of su$h a point of vie pro@e$t themselves into a ne way of life, the spe$ial

evangeli$al ay of life. It is not a !belief! that marks off the hristian, he is distinguished by a

different mode of a$tion, he a$ts differently. +e offers no resistan$e) either by ord or in his heart)

to those ho stand against him. +e dras no distin$tion beteen strangers and $ountrymen) Ges

and Aentiles =!neighbour)! of $ourse) means fello&believer) Ge>. +e is angry ith no one) and he

despises no one. +e neither appeals to the $ourts of @usti$e nor heeds their mandates =!(ear not at

all!> .12+e never under any $ir$umstan$es divor$es his ife) even hen he has proofs of her

infidelity.&&nd under all of this is one prin$iple, all of it arises from one instin$t.&&

The life of the (aviour as simply a $arrying out of this ay of life&&and so as his death. . . +e no

longer needed any formula or ritual in his relations ith Aod&&not even prayer. +e had re@e$ted the

hole of the Geish do$trine of repentan$e and atonement, he +new that it as only by a way of

life that one $ould feel one6s self !divine)! !blessed)! !evangeli$al)! a !$hild of Aod.!4ot by

!repentan$e)!notby !prayer and forgiveness! is the ay to Aod# only the 'ospel way leads to

Aod&&it is itself !Aod4!&&hat the Aospels abolished as the Gudaism in the $on$epts of !sin)!

!forgiveness of sin)! !faith)! !salvation through faith!&&the holeecclesiastical dogma of the Ges

as denied by the !glad tidings.!

The deep instin$t hi$h prompts the hristian ho to live so that he ill feel that he is !in heaven!and is !immortal)! despite many reasons for feeling that he isnot !in heaven!# this is the only

psy$hologi$al reality in !salvation.!&& ne ay of life) not a ne faith.

!.

If I understand anything at all about this great symbolist) it is this# that he regarded only sub"ective

realities as realities) as !truths!&&hat hesaw everything else) everything natural) temporal) spatial

and histori$al) merely as signs) as materials for parables. The $on$ept of !the (on of Aod! does not

$onnote a $on$rete person in history) an isolated and definite individual) but an !eternal! fa$t) a

psy$hologi$al symbol set free from the $on$ept of time. The same thing is true) and in the highest

sense) of the Aod of this typi$al symbolist) of the !kingdom of Aod)! and of the !sonship of Aod.!/othing $ould he more un&hristian than the crude ecclesiastical notions of Aod as a person, of a

!kingdom of Aod! that is to $ome) of a !kingdom of heaven! beyond) and of a !son of Aod! as the

second person of the Trinity. ll this&&if I may be forgiven the phrase&&is like thrusting one6s fist

into the eye =and hat an eye4> of the Aospels# a disrespe$t for symbols amounting to world-

historical cynicism. . . .;ut it is nevertheless obvious enough hat is meant by the symbols

!'ather! and !(on!&&not) of $ourse) to every one& the ord !(on! epresses entrance into the

feeling that there is a general transformation of all things =beatitude>) and !'ather! epresses that

feeling itself--the sensation of eternity and of perfe$tion.&&I am ashamed to remind you of hat the

$hur$h has made of this symbolism# has it not set an mphitryon story1at the threshold of the

hristian !faith!% nd a dogma of !imma$ulate $on$eption! for good measure% . . &&And thereby it

has robbed conception of its immaculateness--
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The !kingdom of heaven! is a state of the heart&&not something to $ome !beyond the orld! or

!after death.! The hole idea of natural death is absent from the Aospels# death is not a bridge) not

a passing, it is absent be$ause it belongs to a -uite different) a merely apparent orld) useful only

as a symbol. The !hour of death! isnot a hristian idea&&!hours)! time) the physi$al life and its

$rises have no eisten$e for the bearer of !glad tidings.! . . .

The !kingdom of Aod! is not something that men ait for# it had no yesterday and no day after

tomorro) it is not going to $ome at a !millennium!&&it is an eperien$e of the heart) it is

everyhere and it is nohere. . . .

".

This !bearer of glad tidings! died as he lived and taught--not to !save mankind)! but to sho

mankind ho to live. It as a way of life that he be-ueathed to man# his demeanour before the

@udges) before the offi$ers) before his a$$users&&his demeanour on the cross. +e does not resist, he

does not defend his rights, he makes no effort to ard off the most etreme penalty&&more) he

invites it. . . nd he prays) suffers and loves with those) inthose) ho do him evil . . .4ot to defendone6s self) not to sho anger) not to lay blames. . . n the $ontrary) to submit even to the *vil ne&&

to love him. . . .

#.

&&e free spirits&&e are the first to have the ne$essary prere-uisite to understanding hat nineteen

$enturies have misunderstood&&that instin$t and passion for integrity hi$h makes ar upon the

!holy lie! even more than upon all other lies. . . ?ankind as unspeakably far from our benevolent

and $autious neutrality) from that dis$ipline of the spirit hi$h alone makes possible the solution of

su$h strange and subtle things# hat men alays sought) ith shameless egoism) as their ownadvantage therein, they $reated the church out of denial of the Aospels. . . .

hoever sought for signs of an ironi$al divinity6s hand in the great drama of eisten$e ould find

no small indi$ation thereof in the stupendous uestion-mar+ that is $alled hristianity. That

mankind should be on its knees before the very antithesis of hat as the origin) the meaning and

the lawof the Aospels&&that in the $on$ept of the !$hur$h! the very things should be pronoun$ed

holy that the !bearer of glad tidings! regards as beneath him and behind him&&it ould be

impossible to surpass this as a grand eample of orld&histori$al irony&&

$.

&&ur age is proud of its histori$al sense# ho) then) $ould it delude itself into believing that the

crude fable of the wonder-wor+er and )aviour$onstituted the beginnings of hristianity&&and that

everything spiritual and symboli$al in it only $ame later% Duite to the $ontrary) the hole history of

hristianity&&from the death on the $ross onard&&is the history of a progressively $lumsier

misunderstanding of an original symbolism. ith every etension of hristianity among larger and

ruder masses) even less $apable of grasping the prin$iples that gave birth to it) the need arose to

make it more and more vulgar and barbarous&&it absorbed the tea$hings and rites of all the

subterranean $ults of the imperium omanum, and the absurdities engendered by all sorts of si$kly

reasoning. It as the fate of hristianity that its faith had to be$ome as si$kly) as lo and as vulgar

as the needs ere si$kly) lo and vulgar to hi$h it had to administer. sic+ly barbarism finally

lifts itself to poer as the $hur$h&&the $hur$h) that in$arnation of deadly hostility to all honesty) to

all loftiness of soul) to all dis$ipline of the spirit) to all spontaneous and kindly humanity. --


20/41

&hristian values&&noblevalues# it is only e) efree spirits) ho have re&established this greatest

of all antitheses in values4. . . .

%.

&&I $annot) at this pla$e) avoid a sigh. There are days hen I am visited by a feeling bla$ker thanthe bla$kest melan$holy&&contempt of man. :et me leave no doubt as to what I despise) whom I

despise# it is the man of today) the man ith hom I am unhappily $ontemporaneous. The man of

today&&I am suffo$ated by his foul breath4 . . . Toard the past) like all ho understand) I am full of

toleran$e) hi$h is to say) generous self&$ontrol# ith gloomy $aution I pass through hole

millenniums of this mad house of a orld) $all it !hristianity)! !hristian faith! or the !hristian

$hur$h)! as you ill&&I take $are not to hold mankind responsible for its luna$ies. ;ut my feeling

$hanges and breaks out irresistibly the moment I enter modern times)our times. ur age +nows

better. . . hat as formerly merely si$kly no be$omes inde$ent&&it is inde$ent to be a hristian

today.And here my disgust begins.&&I look about me# not a ord survives of hat as on$e $alled

!truth!, e $an no longer bear to hear a priest pronoun$e the ord. *ven a man ho makes the

most modest pretensions to integrity must kno that a theologian) a priest) a pope of today not onlyerrs hen he speaks) but a$tually lies--and that he no longer es$apes blame for his lie through

!inno$en$e! or !ignoran$e.! The priest knos) as every one knos) that there is no longer any

!Aod)! or any !sinner)! or any !(aviour!&&that !free ill! and the !moral order of the orld! are

lies& serious refle$tion) the profound self&$on-uest of the spirit)allow no man to pretend that he

does not kno it. . .All the ideas of the $hur$h are no re$ognied for hat they are&&as the orst

$ounterfeits in eisten$e) invented to debase nature and all natural values, the priest himself is seen

as he a$tually is&&as the most dangerous form of parasite) as the venomous spider of $reation. . & &

e kno) our conscience no knos&&@ust what the real value of all those sinister inventions of

priest and $hur$h has been and what ends they have served, ith their debasement of humanity to a

state of self&pollution) the very sight of hi$h e$ites loathing)&&the $on$epts !the other orld)!

!the last @udgment)! !the immortality of the soul)! the !soul! itself# they are all merely so many in

instruments of torture) systems of $ruelty) hereby the priest be$omes master and remains master. .

.*very one knos this)but nevertheless things remain as before. hat has be$ome of the last tra$e

of de$ent feeling) of self&respe$t) hen our statesmen) otherise an un$onventional $lass of men

and thoroughly anti&hristian in their a$ts) no $all themselves hristians and go to the

$ommunion table% . . . prin$e at the head of his armies) magnifi$ent as the epression of the

egoism and arrogan$e of his people&&and yet a$knoledging) without any shame) that he is a

hristian4 . . . hom) then) does hristianity deny% what does it $all !the orld!% To be asoldier,

to be a @udge) to be a patriot, to defend one6s self, to be $areful of one6s honour, to desire one6s on

advantage, to be proud . . . every a$t of everyday) every instin$t) every valuation that shos itself

in a deed, is no anti&hristian# hat a monster of falsehood the modern man must be to $allhimself nevertheless) and without shame) a hristian4&&

&.

&&I shall go ba$k a bit) and tell you the authentic history of hristianity.&&The very ord

!hristianity! is a misunderstanding&&at bottom there as only one hristian) and he died on the

$ross. The !Aospels! died on the $ross. hat) from that moment onard) as $alled the !Aospels!

as the very reverse of hat he had lived# !bad tidings)! a3ysangelium.1JIt is an error amounting

to nonsensi$ality to see in !faith)! and parti$ularly in faith in salvation through hrist) the

distinguishing mark of the hristian# only the hristian way of life, the life livedby him ho died

on the $ross) is hristian. . . To this day such a life is still possible) and for certain men evenne$essary# genuine) primitive hristianity ill remain possible in all ages. . . . 4ot faith) but a$ts,
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above all) an avoidance of a$ts) a differentstate of being. . . . (tates of $ons$iousness) faith of a

sort) the a$$eptan$e) for eample) of anything as true&&as every psy$hologist knos) the value of

these things is perfe$tly indifferent and fifth&rate $ompared to that of the instin$ts# stri$tly

speaking) the hole $on$ept of intelle$tual $ausality is false. To redu$e being a hristian) the state

of hristianity) to an a$$eptan$e of truth) to a mere phenomenon of $ons$iousness) is to formulate

the negation of hristianity. 2n fact, there are no &hristians. The !hristian!&&he ho for tothousand years has passed as a hristian&&is simply a psy$hologi$al self&delusion. losely

eamined) it appears that) despite all his !faith)! he has been ruled onlyby his instin$ts&&and what

instincts!--In all ages&&for eample) in the $ase of :uther&&!faith! has been no more than a $loak) a

pretense) a curtainbehind hi$h the instin$ts have played their game&&a shred blindness to the

domination of certain of the instin$ts . . .I have already $alled !faith! the spe$ially hristian form

of shrewdness--people alays tal+ of their !faith! and act a$$ording to their instin$ts. . . In the

orld of ideas of the hristian there is nothing that so mu$h as tou$hes reality# on the $ontrary) one

re$ognies an instin$tive hatred of reality as the motive poer) the only motive poer at the

bottom of hristianity. hat follos therefrom% That even here) in psychologicis, there is a radi$al

error) hi$h is to say one $onditioning fundamentals) hi$h is to say) one in substance. Take aay

one idea and put a genuine reality in its pla$e&&and the hole of hristianity $rumbles tonothingness 4&&3ieed $almly) this strangest of all phenomena) a religion not only depending on

errors) but inventive and ingenious only in devising in@urious errors) poisonous to life and to the

heart&&this remains aspectacle for the gods&&for those gods ho are also philosophers) and hom I

have en$ountered) for eample) in the $elebrated dialogues at /aos. t the moment hen their

disgust leaves them =&&and us4> they ill be thankful for the spe$ta$le afforded by the hristians#

perhaps be$ause of this $urious ehibition alone the ret$hed little planet $alled the earth deserves

a glan$e from omnipoten$e) a sho of divine interest. . . . Therefore) let us not underestimate the

hristians# the hristian) false to the point of innocence, is far above the ape&&in its appli$ation to

the hristians a ell&&knon theory of des$ent be$omes a mere pie$e of politeness. . . .

!'.

&&The fate of the Aospels as de$ided by death&&it hung on the !$ross.!. . . It as only death) that

unepe$ted and shameful death, it as only the $ross) hi$h as usually reserved for the $anaille

only&&it as only this appalling parado hi$h brought the dis$iples fa$e to fa$e ith the real

riddle# !ho was it? what was it?0--The feeling of dismay) of profound affront and in@ury, the

suspi$ion that su$h a death might involve a refutation of their $ause, the terrible -uestion) !hy

@ust in this ay%!&&this state of mind is only too easy to understand. +ere everything must be

a$$ounted for as ne$essary, everything must have a meaning) a reason) the highest sort of reason,

the love of a dis$iple e$ludes all $han$e. nly then did the $hasm of doubt yan# 05hoput him to

death% ho as his natural enemy%!&&this -uestion flashed like a lightning&stroke. nser#dominant Gudaism) its ruling $lass. 'rom that moment) one found one6s self in revolt against the

established order) and began to understand Gesus as in revolt against the established order. Bntil

then this militant) this nay&saying) nay&doing element in his $hara$ter had been la$king, hat is

more) he had appeared to present its opposite. bviously) the little $ommunity had not understood

hat as pre$isely the most important thing of all# the eample offered by this ay of dying) the

freedom from and superiority to every feeling of ressentiment--aplain indi$ation of ho little he

as understood at all4 ll that Gesus $ould hope to a$$omplish by his death) in itself) as to offer

the strongest possible proof) or e#ample, of his tea$hings in the most publi$ manner. ;ut his

dis$iples ere very far fromforgiving his death&&though to have done so ould have a$$orded ith

the Aospels in the highest degree, and neither ere they prepared to offer themselves) ith gentle

and serene $almness of heart) for a similar death. . . . n the $ontrary) it as pre$isely the mostunevangeli$al of feelings) revenge, that no possessed them. It seemed impossible that the $ause


22/41

should perish ith his death# !re$ompense! and !@udgment! be$ame ne$essary =&&yet hat $ould be

less evangeli$al than !re$ompense)! !punishment)! and !sitting in @udgment!4> &&n$e more the

popular belief in the $oming of a messiah appeared in the foreground, attention as riveted upon

an histori$al moment# the !kingdom of Aod! is to $ome) ith @udgment upon his enemies. . . ;ut in

all this there as a holesale misunderstanding# imagine the !kingdom of Aod! as a last a$t) as a

mere promise4 The Aospels had been) in fa$t) the in$arnation) the fulfillment) thereali%ation of this!kingdom of Aod.! It as only no that all the familiar $ontempt for and bitterness against

Pharisees and theologians began to appear in the $hara$ter of the ?aster as thereby turned into a

Pharisee and theologian himself4 n the other hand) the savage veneration of these $ompletely

unbalan$ed souls $ould no longer endure the Aospel do$trine) taught by Gesus) of the e-ual right of

all men to be $hildren of Aod# their revenge took the form of elevating Gesus in an etravagant

fashion) and thus separating him from themselves# @ust as) in earlier times) the Ges) to revenge

themselves upon their enemies) separated themselves from their Aod) and pla$ed him on a great

height. The ne Aod and the nly (on of Aod# both ere produ$ts of resentment. . . .

!1.

&&nd from that time onard an absurd problem offered itself# !ho could Aod allo it4! To hi$h

the deranged reason of the little $ommunity formulated an anser that as terrifying in its

absurdity# Aod gave his son as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. t on$e there as an end of

the gospels4 (a$rifi$e for sin) and in its most obnoious and barbarous form# sa$rifi$e of the

innocent for the sins of the guilty4 hat appalling paganism 4&&Gesus himself had done aay ith

the very $on$ept of !guilt)! he denied that there as any gulf fied beteen Aod and man, he lived

this unity beteen Aod and man) and that as pre$isely his !glad tidings!. . . nd not as a mere

privilege4&&'rom this time forard the type of the (aviour as $orrupted) bit by bit) by the do$trine

of @udgment and of the se$ond $oming) the do$trine of death as a sa$rifi$e) the do$trine of the

resurrection,by means of hi$h the entire $on$ept of !blessedness)! the hole and only reality of

the gospels) is @uggled aay&&in favour of a state of eisten$e after death4 . . . (t. Paul) ith that

rabbini$al impuden$e hi$h shos itself in all his doings) gave a logi$al -uality to that $on$eption)

that indecent $on$eption) in this ay# 02f hrist did not rise from the dead) then all our faith is in

vain4!&&nd at on$e there sprang from the Aospels the most $ontemptible of all unfulfillable

promises) theshameless do$trine of personal immortality. . . Paul even prea$hed it as a reward. . .

!2.

ne no begins to see @ust what it as that $ame to an end ith the death on the $ross# a ne and

thoroughly original effort to found a ;uddhisti$ pea$e movement) and so establish happiness on

earth--real) not merely promised. 'or this remains&&as I have already pointed out&&the essentialdifferen$e beteen the to religions of decadence: ;uddhism promises nothing) but a$tually

fulfills, hristianity promises everything) but fulfills nothing.&&+ard upon the heels of the !glad

tidings! $ame the orst imaginable# those of Paul. In Paul is in$arnated the very opposite of the

!bearer of glad tidings!, he represents the genius for hatred) the vision of hatred) the relentless

logi$ of hatred. 5hat, indeed) has not this dysangelist sa$rifi$ed to hatred4 bove all) the (aviour#

he nailed him to his own $ross. The life) the eample) the tea$hing) the death of hrist) the meaning

and the la of the hole gospels&&nothing as left of all this after that $ounterfeiter in hatred had

redu$ed it to his uses. (urely not reality, surely not histori$al truth4 . . . n$e more the priestly

instin$t of the Ge perpetrated the same old master $rime against history&&he simply stru$k out the

yesterday and the day before yesterday of hristianity) and invented his own history of &hristian

beginnings. Aoing further) he treated the history of Israel to another falsifi$ation) so that it be$amea mere prologue to his a$hievement# all the prophets) it no appeared) had referred to his


23/41

!(aviour.! . . . :ater on the $hur$h even falsified the history of man in order to make it a prologue

to hristianity . . . The figure of the (aviour) his tea$hing) his ay of life) his death) the meaning of

his death) even the $onse-uen$es of his death&&nothing remained untou$hed) nothing remained in

even remote $onta$t ith reality. Paul simply shifted the $entre of gravity of that hole life to a

pla$e behind this eisten$e&&in the lie of the !risen! Gesus. t bottom) he had no use for the life of

the (aviour&&hat he needed as the death on the $ross) and something more. To see anythinghonest in su$h a man as Paul) hose home as at the $entre of the (toi$al enlightenment) hen he

$onverts an hallu$ination into aproof of the resurre$tion of the (aviour) or even to believe his tale

that he suffered from this hallu$ination himself&&this ould be a genuine niaiserie in a

psy$hologist. Paul illed the end, therefore he also illed the means. &&hat he himself didn6t

believe as salloed readily enough by the idiots among hom he spread his tea$hing.&&hat he

anted as poer, in Paul the priest on$e more rea$hed out for poer&&he had use only for su$h

$on$epts) tea$hings and symbols as served the purpose of tyranniing over the masses and

organiing mobs. 5hat as the only part of hristianity that ?ohammed borroed later on% Paul6s

invention) his devi$e for establishing priestly tyranny and organiing the mob# the belief in the

immortality of the soul&&that is to say, the doctrine of 0"udgment0.

!.

hen the $entre of gravity of life is pla$ed) not in life itself) but in !the beyond!&&in nothingness--

then one has taken aay its $entre of gravity altogether. The vast lie of personal immortality

destroys all reason) all natural instin$t&&hen$eforth) everything in the instin$ts that is benefi$ial) that

fosters life and that safeguards the future is a $ause of suspi$ion. (o to live that life no longer has

any meaning# this is no the !meaning! of life. . . . hy be publi$&spirited% hy take any pride in

des$ent and forefathers% hy labour together) trust one another) or $on$ern one6s self about the

$ommon elfare) and try to serve it% . . . ?erely so many !temptations)! so many strayings from

the !straight path.!&&0One thing only is ne$essary!. . . That every man) be$ause he has an !immortal

soul)! is as good as every other man, that in an infinite universe of things the !salvation! of every

individual may lay $laim to eternal importan$e, that insignifi$ant bigots and the three&fourths

insane may assume that the las of nature are $onstantly suspended in their behalf&&it is impossible

to lavish too mu$h $ontempt upon su$h a magnifi$ation of every sort of selfishness to infinity) to

insolence. nd yet hristianity has to thank pre$isely this miserable flattery of personal vanity for

its triumph--it as thus that it lured all the bot$hed) the dissatisfied) the fallen upon evil days) the

hole refuse and off&s$ouring of humanity to its side. The !salvation of the soul!&&in plain *nglish#

!the orld revolves around me.! . . . The poisonous do$trine) 0eual rights for all)! has been

propagated as a hristian prin$iple# out of the se$ret nooks and $rannies of bad instin$t hristianity

has aged a deadly ar upon all feelings of reveren$e and distan$e beteen man and man) hi$h

is to say) upon the firstprereuisite to every step upard) to every development of $iviliation&&outof the ressentiment of the masses it has forged its $hief eapons against us, against everything

noble) @oyous and high spirited on earth) against our happiness on earth . . . To allo !immortality!

to every Peter and Paul as the greatest) the most vi$ious outrage upon noble humanity ever

perpetrated.--And let us not underestimate the fatal influen$e that hristianity has had) even upon

politi$s4 /oadays no one has $ourage any more for spe$ial rights) for the right of dominion) for

feelings of honourable pride in himself and his e-uals&&for thepathos of distance. . .ur politi$s is

si$k ith this la$k of $ourage4&&The aristo$rati$ attitude of mind has been undermined by the lie of

the e-uality of souls, and if belief in the !privileges of the ma@ority! makes and will continue to

ma+e revolution&&it is hristianity) let us not doubt) and &hristian valuations) hi$h $onvert every

revolution into a $arnival of blood and $rime4 hristianity is a revolt of all $reatures that $reep on

the ground against everything that is lofty# the gospel of the !loly! lowers. . .


24/41

!!.

&&The gospels are invaluable as eviden$e of the $orruption that as already persistent within the

primitive $ommunity. That hi$h Paul) ith the $yni$al logi$ of a rabbi) later developed to a

$on$lusion as at bottom merely a pro$ess of de$ay that had begun ith the death of the (aviour.&&

These gospels $annot be read too $arefully, diffi$ulties lurk behind every ord. I $onfess&&I hope itill not be held against me&&that it is pre$isely for this reason that they offer first&rate @oy to a

psy$hologist&&as the opposite of all merely naive $orruption) as refinementpar e#cellence, as an

artisti$ triumph in psy$hologi$al $orruption. The gospels) in fa$t) stand alone. The ;ible as a hole

is not to be $ompared to them. +ere e are among Ges# this is the first thing to be borne in mind

if e are not to lose the thread of the matter. This positive genius for $on@uring up a delusion of

personal !holiness! unmat$hed anyhere else) either in books or by men, this elevation of fraud in

ord and attitude to the level of an art--all this is not an a$$ident due to the $han$e talents of an

individual) or to any violation of nature. The thing responsible is race. The hole of Gudaism

appears in hristianity as the art of $on$o$ting holy lies) and there) after many $enturies of earnest

Geish training and hard pra$ti$e of Geish te$hni$) the business $omes to the stage of mastery. The

hristian) that ultima ratio of lying) is the Ge all over again&&he is threefold the Ge. . . Theunderlying ill to make use only of su$h $on$epts) symbols and attitudes as fit into priestly

pra$ti$e) the instin$tive repudiation of every other mode of thought) and every other method of

estimating values and utilities&&this is not only tradition) it is inheritance: only as an inheritan$e is

it able to operate ith the for$e of nature. The hole of mankind) even the best minds of the best

ages =ith one e$eption) perhaps hardly human&&>) have permitted themselves to be de$eived. The

gospels have been read as a boo+ of innocence. . . surely no small indi$ation of the high skill ith

hi$h the tri$k has been done.&&f $ourse) if e $ould a$tually see these astounding bigots and

bogus saints) even if only for an instant) the far$e ould $ome to an end)&&and it is pre$isely

be$ause2 $annot read a ord of theirs ithout seeing their attitudiniing that 2 have made am end

of them. . . . I simply $annot endure the ay they have of rolling up their eyes.&&'or the ma@ority)

happily enough) books are mere literature.&&:et us not be led astray# they say !@udge not)! and yet

they $ondemn to hell hoever stands in their ay. In letting Aod sit in @udgment they @udge

themselves, in glorifying Aod they glorify themselves, in demanding that every one sho the

virtues hi$h they themselves happen to be $apable of&&still more) hi$h they must have in order

to remain

Documents

NIETZSCHE, Friedrich - The Antichrist