(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see how)
Focus Question:
How does Frederich Nietzsche still affect you?
Intro:
Remember how the word philosophy means “love of wisdom?” We should all love wisdom which, as the Bible puts it, begins with appropriate acknowledgement and reverence for its Ultimate Source.
Today’s focus question asks, “How does Frederich Nietzsche still affect you?” And honestly, when we’re done, I don’t care if you remember the name of this dude that lived in the late 1800s. But something he’s famous for is A) in direct opposition to the gospel and B) very much still an influence in the world and, sadly sometimes, the church. So I want you to incline your ear to the ideas herein so you can grow in your own wisdom.
As we get into 2 Corinthians, you’re going to hear Paul responding to his opponents’ claim that true apostles had revelations, but also listen for the contrast between strength and weakness.
New Testament segment:
Passage: 2 Corinthians 12-13
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 35
Words: ~824
Compare that with this quote from Nietzsche:
What is good? Everything that heightens the feeling of power in man, the will to power, power itself. What is bad? Everything that is born of weakness.
In An Introduction to Philosophy, author Paul Glenn writes:
…Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900) was gladdened by (human suffering). For, said Nietzsche, the pain and strife of existence are meant to harden us, to strengthen us, to develop us so that we may ultimately produce superman. We should therefore be ruthless, hard, unsympathetic; we should refuse to indulge self or others; we should sternly cultivate the will to power. Christianity, said Nietzsche, with its doctrines of obedience, resignation, loving kindness, is not the guide we require; it proclaims a slave morality. We need no God, no supernatural aim. The aim of true ethics is the development of the great, the strong, the ruthless blond beast, the superman….It is interesting to note that the philosophy of ruthless will to power still finds expression in the ideals and the warlike actions of many of Nietzsche’s countrymen.(1)
Glen doesn’t name the countryman here, but does that sound familiar? Who do you recall wanted to build a master race of supermen, ruthless and strong?
The stronger must dominate and not mate with the weaker, which would signify the sacrifice of its own higher nature. Only the born weakling can look upon this principle as cruel, and if he does so it is merely because he is of a feebler nature and narrower mind; for if such a law did not direct the process of evolution then the higher development of organic life would not be conceivable at all. ~ Adolf Hitler
Continuing, Glen said
The ethics of Nietzsche are a crude and brutal naturalism, that is, a theory that man needs no power but his own, and no aim beyond this world. Naturalism is one form of materialism which denies or disregards everything spiritual and supernatural. Naturalistic ethics appear in the mistaken philosophies of all ages, proclaiming men naturally good, naturally directed upwards and onwards, and urging that he be left unhindered and undirected so that through fullest self-expression he may come to perfection.(1)
So there you go. If Nietzsche is correct, you are naturally good, need to be left alone to find your true self, and it’s ok to pursue strength at the expense of the weak — it’s the natural order of things. If Paul’s correct as he writes to the Corinthians under the direction of the Holy Spirit, though, our boast is of our weakness so that Christ’s power can reside in us.
I’ll make one final point about this after our OT and Wisdom segments.
So, turning to Jeremiah, today is the last chapter of a section where we hear of Israel’s false religion and religiosity — what they’re missing out on with their idolatries, what the consequence will be, and Jeremiah’s grief over it.
OLD Testament segment:
Passage: Jeremiah 10
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 25
Words: ~741
Did you hear that? “A person’s way is not their own.” That doesn’t exactly sound like what we hear in culture, right?
Wisdom segment:
Passage: Psalm 76
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 12
Words: ~197
The bottom line:
In the history of modernism’s philosophy up to the point of Nietzsche, philosophers were saying “science is where you get true knowledge,” and “this god stuff is your own preferences…like whether you prefer chocolate or vanilla ice cream.” BUT they still held to the idea that somehow you could have morality even though it was separated from God.
Nietzsche had the guts to point out that if you kill God, if you have no moral lawgiver, you have no objective moral point of reference and the only thing left is power.
How is Nietzsche still affecting you even today? People are still arguing that there can be morality without God, and no one wants to acknowledge that if eliminate God that your only possible choice is to try to get power so you can enforce your preferences and opinions. They still sneer when they say you just need religion because you’re weak.
And to that Paul says, “Ironically, you’re almost right. We are weak, slave to sin, and we need a Savior. And so do you.”
How does Nietzsche still affect you? Ideas have consequences, and one person who took Nietzsche seriously was Adolf Hitler. Of course, we’re a lot more civilized now, right? We’re not out for power now, we’re out for the common good, right?
Moral law can only come from a moral lawgiver. Eliminate the moral lawgiver, and the only thing you have left is power.
Love you!
Roger
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Paul W. Barnett, “2 Corinthians,” in CSB Apologetics Study Bible, ed. Ted Cabal (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1460.