last sprouts and
branches
of its ideal beneath every form of disguise, I decline to enter into any compromise or false position in reference to it-- I urge people to declare open war with
The morality paltry people the measure all things: this the most repugnant kind
degeneracy that civilisation has ever yet brought
However modest one's demands may be concerning intellectual cleanliness, when one
into existence.
The morality paltry people the measure all things: this the most repugnant kind
degeneracy that civilisation has ever yet brought
However modest one's demands may be concerning intellectual cleanliness, when one
into existence.
Nietzsche - Works - v14 - Will to Power - a
.
in of in
to
? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
I53
order to create a belief for themselves. And just .
as the priesthood had falsified the whole history of Israel, another attempt was made, here, to alter
and falsify the whole history of mankind in such a way as to make Christianity seem like the most
important event it contained. This movement could have originated only upon the soil of Judaism,
the main feature of which was the confounding of
guilt with sorrow and the reduction of all sin to sin against God. Of all this, Christianity is the
second degree of power.
I83.
The symbolism of Christianity is based upon
that of Judaism, which had already transfigured
all reality (history, Nature) into a holy and artificial unreality--which refused to recognise
real history, and which showed no more interest in a natural course of things.
I84.
The Jews made the attempt to prevail, after two of their castes--the warrior and the agri cultural castes, had disappeared from their midst.
In this sense they are the "castrated people": they have their priests and then--their Chandala. .
How easily a disturbance occurs among them-- an insurrection of their Chandala. This was the
origin of Christianity.
Owing to the fact that they had no knowledge of
warriors except as their masters, they introduced
\
? ? ? ? I54
THE WILL TO POWER.
enmity towards the nobles, the men of honour, pride, and power, and the ruling classes, into their religion: they are pessimists from indignation. . . .
Thus they created a very important and novel position: the priests in the van of the Chandala --against the noble classes. . . .
Christianity was the logical conclusion of this movement: even in the Jewish priesthood, it still scented the existence of the caste, of the privileged
and noble minority--it therefore did away with priests.
Christ is the unit of the Chandala who removes
the priest . . . the Chandala who redeems himself. . . .
That is why the French Revolution is the lineal descendant and the continuator of Christianity-- it is characterised by an instinct of hate towards castes, nobles, and the last privileges.
185.
The "Christian Ideal" put on the stage with Jewish astuteness -- these are the fundamental
psychological forces of "nature":--
Revolt against the ruling spiritual powers;
? make those virtues which facili the lowly, standard all call God that which no more than the self-preservative instinct that
The attempt tate the happiness values--in fact,
class man possessed least vitality;
Obedience and absolute abstention from war
and resistance, justified by this ideal;
? ? of
of
a
to
to of
its
of is of
? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
I55
The love of one another as a result of the love of God.
The trick : The denial of all natural mobilia, and their transference to the spiritual world beyond . . . the exploitation of virtue and its veneration for wholly interested motives, gradual denial of virtue in everything that is not Christian.
I 86.
The profound contempt with which the Christian
was treated by the noble people of antiquity, is of
the same order as the present instinctive aversion
to Jews: it is the hatred which free and self
? respecting
classes feel towards those who wish to
creep in secretly, and who combine an awkward bearing with foolish self-sufficiency.
The New Testament is the gospel of a com pletely ignoble species of man; its pretensions to
highest values--yea, to all values, fact, revolting--even nowadays.
187.
How little the subject matters!
which gives the thing life What
matter
the spirit quantity
stuffy and sick-room air there all that chattet about "redemption," "love," "blessedness," "faith,"
"truth," "eternal life"! Let any one look into really pagan book and compare the two; for in
stance, Petronius, nothing all done, said, desired, and valued, which, according bigoted Christian estimate, not sin, even deadly sin. And yet how happy one feels with the purer air, the
? ? is
or
at
is in
in
|
a It
to is as
is aa
a
of
of
is,
? 156
THE WILL TO POWER.
superiorintellectuality, the quicker pace, and the free
overflowing strength which is certain of the future I In the whole of the New Testament there is not
one bouffonnerie: but that fact alone would suffice to refute any book. . . .
I 88.
The profound lack of dignity with which all life,
which is not Christian, is condemned: it does not
suffice them to think meanly of their actual oppon
ents, they cannot do with less than a general
slander of everything that is not themselves. . . .
An abject and crafty soul is in the most perfect harmony with the arrogance of piety, as witness
the early Christians.
The future : they see that they are heavily paid
for Theirs the muddiest kind of spirit
? arranged confirm the prophecies the Scriptures:
that exists. The whole Christ's life
He behaves suchwise order that they may be right.
189.
The deceptive interpretation the words, the doings, and the condition dying people; the natural fear death, for instance, systematically confounded with the supposed fear what happen "after death. "
I90.
The Christians have done exactly what the Jews did before them. They introduced what they
? ? of
. is
.
in of of
of
is so
is to
is
of
of
to .
it. .
.
.
. .
in
as
? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
I57
thing necessary to self-preservation into their Master's
teaching, and wove His life into They likewise credited Him with all the wisdom of maker of
proverbs--in short, they represented their every day life and activity act obedience, and
thus sanctified their propaganda.
What all depends upon, may gathered
from Paul: not much. What remains the development type saint, out the values which these people regarded saintly.
The whole the "doctrine miracles," in cluding the resurrection, the result self
conceived to be an innovation and a
? glorification
ascribed itself, but
the part the community, which
its Master those qualities ascribed higher degree (or, better still,
derived strength from Him.
The Christians have never led the life which
Jesus commanded them lead, and the impudent fable the "justification by faith," and its unique
and transcendental significance, only the result the Church's lack courage and will acknow
ledging those "works" which Jesus commanded. The Buddhist behaves differently from the non
Buddhist;
the world does, and possesses Christianity
but the Christian behaves all the rest
ceremonies and states of the soul.
The profound and contemptible falsehood
Christianity Europe makes deserve the con tempt the Arabs, Hindoos, and Chinese.
? ? of
of of
of
to its
in
in on a
it
us
as
is
. of
it. a
.
. of of
of
a is in
. of of
of I a
as an
to
9I.
of
to
it of
. ).
of
as
be
it
is
it
is of
? 158
THE WILL TO POWER.
Let any one listen to the words of the first German statesman, concerning that which has preoccupied Europe for the last forty years.
I 92.
"Faith" or "works"? --But that the "works," the habit of particular works may engender a certain set of values or thoughts, is just as natural as it would be unnatural for "works" to proceed from mere valuations. Man must practise, not how to strengthen feelings of value, but how to strengthen action: first of all, one must be able to do some thing. . . . Luther's Christian Dilettantism. Faith is an asses' bridge. The background consists of a profound conviction on the part of Luther and his peers, that they are unable to accomplish Christian "works," a personal fact, disguised under an extreme doubt as to whether all action
is not sin and devil's work, so that the worth of life depends upon isolated and highly-strained conditions of inactivity (prayer, effusion, etc. ). -- Ultimately, Luther would be right: the instincts which are expressed by the whole bearing of the
? Only in turning absolutely away from themselves, and in becoming absorbed in the opposite of themselves,
reformers are the most brutal that exist.
only by
existence endurable to them.
means of an illusion ("faith") was
I93.
"What was to be done in order to believe? "--
an absurd question. That which is wrong with
? ? ? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
I59
Christianity that does none the things that Christ commanded.
contempt.
mean life, but seen through the eye
I94.
The entrance into the real life--a man saves his own life living the life the multitude.
95.
Christianity has become something fundament
ally different from what its Founder wished
be. the great anti-pagan movement anti
quity, formulated with the use the life, teaching,
and "words" the Founder Christianity, but
? interpreted quite arbitrarily, according
scheme
embodying profoundly different needs: translated
into the language all the subterranean religions then existing.
the rise Pessimism (whereas Jesus wished bring the peace and the happiness
the lambs): and moreover the Pessimism the weak, the inferior, the suffering, and the
oppressed.
Its mortal enemies are (1) Power, whether the form character, intellect, taste, and
"worldliness"; (2) the "good cheer" classical times, the noble levity and scepticism, hard pride,
eccentric dissipation, and cold frugality the sage,
Greek refinement manners, words, and form.
Its mortal enemy much the Roman the Greek.
? ? as
of of
of
it
or of of
to a
of
of of
is to
of
as of I
by
is,
is in
of of
it
in
of
to
of
It
It is
It is a
of of
of
? 16O THE WILL TO POWER.
The attempt on the part of anti-paganism to
establish itself on a philosophical basis, and to
make tenets possible: shows taste for the ambiguous figures antique culture, and above
all for Plato, who was, more than any other, an
anti-Hellene and Semite instinct. shows taste for Stoicism, which
also essentially
("dignity"
severity, law; virtue held be greatness, self
the work Semites
regarded
responsibility, authority, greatest sovereignty oneself--this Semitic. The Stoic an Arabian
over sheik wrapped Greek togas and notions.
? 196.
Christianity only resumes the fight which had
already been begun against the classical ideal and noble religion.
As matter fact, the whole process
transformation only an adaptation
needs and
masses then
believed
"great mother," and which demanded the follow
ing things religion: (1) hopes beyond,
(2) the bloody phantasmagoria animal sacrifice (the mystery), (3) holy legend and the redeeming
the
community.
increasing anti-pagan tendency--those
Epicurus combated,-- more exactly, those
intelligence
the religious
the level
existing:--those masses
which Isis, Mithras, Dionysos, and the
the world, super hierarchy part
short, Christianity everywhere fitted the already prevailing and
deed, (4) asceticism, denial stitious "purification," (5)
cults which
? ? -
or
a
it
of
* of
is in
as
It as
of
of
to
of a
of
a to
a in
a
its
to a
of
is
of
of In of in
of
is
is is . . .
a
is
? CRITICISM OF RELIGION. * I6I
religions proper to the lower herd, women, slaves,
and ignoble classes.
The misunderstandings are therefore the
following:--
(1) The immortality of the individual;
(2) The assumed existence of another world;
(3) The absurd notion of punishment and expiation in the heart of the interpretation of existence;
(4) The profanation of the divine nature of
man, instead of its accentuation, and the con
struction of a very profound chasm, which can
only be crossed by the help of a miracle or by means of the most thorough self-contempt;
(5) The whole world of corrupted imagination
and morbid passion, instead of a simple and
loving life of action, instead of Buddhistic happiness attainable on earth;
? priesthood, theology, cults, and sacraments; in short, every
(6) An ecclesiastical order with a
thing that Jesus of Nazareth combated;
(7) The miraculous in everything and every body, superstition too: while precisely the trait
which distinguished Judaism and primitive Christianity was their repugnance to miracles and their relative rationalism.
I97.
The psychological pre-requisites:--Ignorance and lack of culture,--the sort of ignorance which has un
learned every kind of shame: let any one imagine
those impudent saints in the heart of Athens; VOL. I. L
? ? ? I62 THE WILL TO POWER.
The Jewish instinct of a chosen people: they appropriate all the virtues, without further ado,
as their own, and regard the rest of the world as their opposite; this is a profound sign of spiritual depravity;
The total lack of real aims and real duties, for which other virtues are required than those of the
State undertook this work for them: and the impudent people still behaved as though they had no need of the State. "Except ye become as little children"--oh, how far we are from this psychological ingenuousness!
I98.
The Founder of Christianity had to pay dearly
for having directed His teaching at the lowest classes of Jewish society and intelligence. They
understood Him only according to the limitations of their own spirit. . . . It was a disgrace to concoct a history of salvation, a personal God, a personal Saviour, a personal immortality, and to have
retained all the meanness of the "person," and of the "history" of a doctrine which denies the reality of all that is personal and historical.
The legend of salvation takes the place of the symbolic "now" and "all time," of the symbolic
"here" and "everywhere"; and miracles appear instead of the psychological symbol.
I 99.
Nothing is less innocent than the New Testa ment. The soil from which it sprang is known.
bigot--the
? ? ? ? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
163
These people, possessed of an inflexible will to assert themselves, and who, once they had lost
natural hold on life, and had long existed without any right existence, still knew how
prevail by means hypotheses which were unnatural they were imaginary (calling them
selves the chosen people, the community saints, the people the promised land, and the
"Church"): these people made use their pia fraus with such skill, and with such "clean
consciences,"
when they preach morality. When Jews step forward the personification innocence, the danger must great. While reading the New Testament man should have his small fund of intelligence, mistrust, and wickedness constantly at hand.
People the lowest origin, partly mob, out casts not only from good society, but also from
that one cannot be too cautious
? respectable society; grown away
atmosphere culture, and free from discipline; ignorant, without even suspicion the fact that
spiritual matters; word--the Jews: an instinctively crafty people,
able create an advantage, means seduction out every conceivable hypothesis superstition,
even out ignorance itself.
2OO.
conscience can also rule
regard Christianity
seductive lie that has ever yet existed--as the greatest and most impious lie: can discern the
the most fatal and
from the
? ? as I
a in
I
of to
all
of
of
of
aas as be
of
of of
of
of
a
in a
of asto
of
of to
? 164
THE WILL TO POWER.
last sprouts and branches of its ideal beneath every form of disguise, I decline to enter into any compromise or false position in reference to it-- I urge people to declare open war with
The morality paltry people the measure all things: this the most repugnant kind
degeneracy that civilisation has ever yet brought
However modest one's demands may be concerning intellectual cleanliness, when one
into existence. And this kind ideal
still, under the name "God," over men's heads
2O I.
help experiencing sort inexpressible feeling dis
touches the New Testament one cannot
comfort;
the least qualified people will have their say
its pages, regard the greatest problems
existence, and claim sit judgment on
such matters, exceeds limits. The impudent levity with which the most unwieldy problems
are spoken here (life, the world, God, the purpose life), they were not problems
all, but the most simple things which these little bigots know all about ! ! !
2O2.
This was the most fatal form insanity that has ever yet existed on earth:--when these little lying abortions bigotry begin laying claim
the words "God," "last judgment," "truth,"
for the unbounded cheek with which
hanging
? ? ? to of of ! !
of
as if
of to
is of of
of
in
of is
as
of
in of
a
all
to
it. atin of
of
? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
"love,33 go wisdom," "Holy Spirit," and thereby
the salt, the standard, and the measure of all
persecute them was an egregious act of antique folly: this was taking them too seriously; it was
making them serious.
The whole fatality was made possible by the
fact that a similar form of megalomania was
already in existence, the Jewish form (once the
gulf separating the Jews from the Christian-Jews
was bridged, the Christian-Jews were compelled to employ those self-preservative measures afresh
which were discovered by the Jewish instinct, for their own self-preservation, after having accent
uated them); and again through the fact that Greek moral philosophy had done everything
that could be done to prepare the way for moral-fanaticism, even among Greeks and Romans,
and to render it palatable. . . . Plato, the great importer of corruption, who was the first
who refused to see Nature in morality, and who had already deprived the Greek gods of all their worth by his notion "good," was already tainted with Jewish bigotry (in Egypt? ).
2O3.
These small virtues of gregarious animals do not by any means lead to "eternal life": to put
distinguishing
themselves from the rest of the world; when such men begin to transvalue values to suit themselves, as though they were the sense,
things;
then all that one should do is this: build lunatic asylums for their incarceration. To
165
? ? ? ? I66 THE WILL TO POWER.
them on the stage in such a way, and oneself
with them is perhaps very smart; but to him who keeps his eyes open, even here, it remains, in spite
of all, the most ludicrous performance. A man by no means deserves privileges, either on earth or
in heaven, because he happens to have attained to perfection in the art of behaving like a good
natured little sheep; at best, he only remains a dear, absurd little ram with horns--provided, of
course, he does not burst with vanity or excite indignation by assuming the airs of a supreme
judge.
What a terrible glow of false colouring here
floods the meanest virtues--as though they were
the reflection of divine qualities !
The natural purpose and utility of every
virtue is systematically hushed up; it can only be valuable in the light of a divine command or model, or in the light of the good which belongs
to a beyond-or a spiritual world. (This is
magnificent! question
As if it were a of
the salvation of the soul: but it was a means of making things bearable here with as many beautiful sentiments as possible. )
2O4.
? The law, which is the fundamentally realistic formula of certain self-preservative measures of a community, forbids certain actions that have a definite tendency to jeopardise the welfare of that community: it does not forbid the attitude of mind
which gives rise to these actions--for in the pur
? ? ? CRITICISM OF RELIGION,
167
suit of other ends the community requires these forbidden actions, namely, when it is a matter of
opposing
its enemies. The moral idealist now
steps forward and says: "God sees into men's
hearts: the action itself counts for nothing; the
reprehensible attitude of mind from which it pro
ceeds must be extirpated. . . . " In normal
conditions men laugh at such things; it is only
in exceptional cases, when a community lives quite beyond the need of waging war in order to main
tain itself, that an ear is lent to such things. Any
attitude of mind is abandoned, the utility of which cannot be conceived.
This was the case, for example, when Buddha appeared among a people that was both peaceable
and afflicted with great intellectual weariness. This was also the case in regard to the first Christian community (as also the Jewish), the
primary condition of which was the absolutely unpolitical Jewish society. Christianity could grow
only upon the soil of Judaism--that is to say,
among a people that had already renounced the political life, and which led a sort of parasitic
existence within the Roman sphere of government, Christianity goes a step farther: it allows men to "emasculate" themselves even more ; the circum stances actually favour their doing so. --Nature is expelled from morality when it is said, "Love ye
your enemies": for Nature's injunction, "Ye shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy," has
now become senseless in the law (in instinct); now, even the love a man feels for his neighbour must first be based upon something (a sort of love
? ? ? ? I68 THE WILL TO POWER.
of God). God is introduced everywhere, and utility is withdrawn; the natural origin of morality
is denied everywhere: the veneration of Nature, which lies in acknowledging a natural morality, is
destroyed to the roots. . . .
Whence comes the seductive charm of this
emasculate ideal of man? Why are we not disgusted by just we are disgusted the thought eunuch The answer obvious: not the
voice the eunuch that revolts us, despite the cruel mutilation which the result; for, matter fact, has grown sweeter. And owing the very fact that the "male organ" has
been amputated from virtue, voice now has feminine ring, which, formerly, was not be
discerned.
On the other hand, we have only think the terrible hardness, dangers, and accidents
which life manly virtues leads--the life Corsican, even the present day, that
heathen Arab (which resembles the Corsican's life
even the smallest detail: the Arab's songs might
have been written by Corsicans)--in order
perceive how the most robust type man was
fascinated and moved by the voluptuous ring this "goodness" and "purity. " pastoral
melody an idyll the "good man": such
things have most effect ages when tragedy abroad.
With this, we have realised what extent the "idealist" (the ideal eunuch) also proceeds from
? ? ? sk
in .
it is
to . . .
its
is
at
to a .
it, . as
.
toofof". it of
. .
of at
of or to . .
it
A
a isoftoaatoof aa
of of to
as
of
a
is
? ideal (this kind scale by Paul
relation mildest form
hostility shown on
CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
I69
definite reality and is not merely a visionary. . . . He has perceived precisely that, for his kind of
reality, a brutal injunction of the sort which pro
hibits certain actions has no sense (because the
instinct which would urge him to these actions is weakened, thanks to a long need of practice, and
of compulsion to practise). The castrator formu
lates a host of new self-preservative measures for
a perfectly definite species of men: in this sense he is a realist. The means to which he has
recourse for establishing his legislation, are the
same as those of ancient legislators: he appeals to all authorities, to "God," and he exploits the notions "guilt and punishment"--that is to say, he avails himself of the whole of the older ideal, but interprets it differently; for instance: punish
ment is given a place in the inner self called the pang conscience).
practice this kind man meets with his end the moment the exceptional conditions favouring his existence cease prevail--a sort insular happiness, like that Tahiti, and the little Jews
the Roman provinces. Their only natural foe the soil from which they spring: they must wage war against that, and once more give their offensive
? and defensive passions rope order
it: their opponents are the adherents
equal
the old grand
relation Judaism, and by Luther
the priestly ascetic ideal). The this antagonism certainly that
the first Buddhists; perhaps nothing has given rise much work, the enfeeblement and
? ? to so
In of
as
to
of
of
in
is in
of to in
of
is is
in
a
of be to
of
(it is
of to
of to
? THE WILL TO POWER. discouragement of the feeling of antagonism. The
17o
struggle against
Buddhist's first duty; thus only is his peace of soul
resentment almost seems the
secured. To isolate oneself without
bitterness, this presupposes the existence of a surprisingly
mild and sweet order of men,--saints. . . . :k
The Astuteness of moral castration. --How is war waged against the virile passions and valuations? No violent physical means are available; the war must therefore be one of ruses, spells, and lies--in
-
short, a "spiritual war. "
First recipe: One appropriates virtue in general,
and makes it the main feature of one's ideal; the older ideal is denied and declared to be the reverse
of all ideals. Slander has to be carried to a fine art for this purpose.
Second recipe: One's own type is set up as a general standard; and this is projected into all
things, behind all things, and behind the destiny of all things--as God.
Third recipe: The opponents of one's ideal are declared to be the opponents of God; one arro gates to oneself a right to great pathos, to power,
and a right to curse and to bless.
Fourth recipe: All suffering, all gruesome,
terrible, and fatal things are declared to be the results of opposition to one's ideal--all suffering is
? punishment
(except it be a trial, etc. ).
even in the case of one's adherents
Fifth recipe: One goes so far as to regard Nature as the reverse of one's ideal, and the lengthy
? ? ? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
171
sojourn
great trial of patience--a sort of martyrdom; one
studies contempt, both in one's attitudes and one's
looks towards all "natural things. "
Sixth recipe: The triumph of anti-naturalism
and ideal castration, the triumph of the world of the pure, good, sinless, and blessed, is projected
into the future as the consummation, the finale, the great hope, and the "Coming of the Kingdom of God. "
I hope that one may still be allowed to laugh at this artificial hoisting up of a small species of
man to the position of an absolute standard of all things?
2O5.
What I do not at all like in Jesus of Nazareth
and His Apostle Paul, is that they stuffed so much
into the heads of paltry people, as if their modest virtues were worth so much ado. We have had
to pay dearly for it all; for they brought the most
valuable qualities of both virtue and man into
repute; they set the guilty conscience and the self-respect noble souls loggerheads, and
they led the braver, more magnanimous, more daring,
and more excessive tendencies strong souls astray --even to self-destruction.
2O6.
the New Testament, and especially the Gospels, discern absolutely no sign Divine" voice: but rather an indirect form the most
amid natural conditions is considered a
? ? ? of o f a"
In I
in
of
at
of
ill
? 172
THE WILL TO POWER.
subterranean fury, both in slander and destructive ness--one of the most dishonest forms of hatred.
It lacks all knowledge of the qualities of a higher
nature. It makes an impudent abuse of all kinds of plausibilities, and the whole stock of proverbs is used up and foisted upon one in its pages. Was it necessary to make a God come in order to appeal to those publicans and to say to them, etc. etc. ?
Nothing could be more vulgar than this struggle
with the Pharisees, carried on with a host of absurd and unpractical moral pretences; the mob, of course,
has always been entertained by such feats. Fancy the reproach of "hypocrisy 1" coming from those
lips | Nothing could be more vulgar than this treatment of one's opponents--a most insidious sign of nobility or its reverse. . . .
207.
Primitive Christianity is the abolition of the State: it prohibits oaths, military service, courts of
justice, self-defence or the defence of a community, and denies the difference between fellow-country men and strangers, as also the order of castes.
? Christ's example : He does not withstand those
who ill-treat Him; He does not defend Himself;
He does more, He "offers the left cheek" (to the demand: "Tell us whether thou be the Christ? "
He replies: "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and
coming in the clouds of heaven"). He forbids His disciples to defend Him; He calls attention to
? ? ? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
I73
the fact that He could get help if He wished to, but will not.
Christianity also means the abolition of society, it prizes everything that society despises, its very growth takes place among the outcasts, the con demned, and the leprous of all kinds, as also among "publicans," "sinners," prostitutes,
foolish of men (the "fisher folk"); it despises the rich, the scholarly, the noble, the virtuous, and the
"punctilious. "
. . .
2O8.
The war against the noble and the powerful, as it is waged in the New Testament, is reminis cent of Reynard the Fox and his methods: but
plus the priestly unction and the more absolute refusal to recognise one's own craftiness.
2O9.
The Gospel is the announcement that the road to happiness lies open for the lowly and the
poor--that all one has to do is to emancipate one's self from all institutions, traditions, and the
tutelage of the higher classes. Thus Christianity
is no more than the typical teaching of Socialists.
and the most
? Property, acquisitions, mother-country,
and rank, tribunals, the police, the State, the
Church, Education, Art, militarism: all these are
so many obstacles in the way of happiness, so many mistakes, snares, and devil's artifices, on
which the Gospel passes sentence--all this is typical of socialistic doctrines.
Behind all this there is the outburst, the ex
status
? ? ? I74
THE WILL TO POWER.
plosion, of a concentrated loathing of the "masters," -- the instinct which discerns the happiness of freedom after such long oppression. . . .
(Mostly a symptom of the fact that the inferior classes have been treated too humanely, that their tongues already taste a joy which is forbidden them. . . . It is not hunger that provokes revolu tions, but the fact that the mob have contracted an appetite en mangeant. . . . )
2 IO.
Let the New Testament only be read as a book of seduction: in it virtue is appropriated, with the idea that public opinion is best won with it,-- and as a matter of fact it is a very modest kind of virtue, which recognises only the ideal gregarious animal and nothing more (including, of course,
the herdsmen): a puny, soft, benevolent, helpful, and gushingly-satisfied kind of virtue which to the outside world is quite devoid of pretensions,-- and which separates the "world" entirely from itself. The crassest arrogance which fancies that the destiny of man turns around and alone,
? and that on the one side the
community
believers represents what right, and on the
other the world represents what false and eternally be reproved and rejected. The most
imbecile hatred all things power, which, how ever, never goes far touch these things.
kind inner detachment
leaves everything was (servitude and slavery; and knowing how convert everything into means serving God and virtue).
which, outwardly,
? ? of
of
to
a
of
as
A
so of to it
as
to in
is
is
it, it
? dogmas
CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
2 II.
I75
Christianity is possible as the most private
form of life; it presupposes the existence of a narrow, isolated, and absolutely unpolitical society
--it belongs to the conventicle. On the other
hand, a "Christian State," "Christian politics," are pieces of downright impudence; they are lies, like,
for instance, a Christian leadership of an army, which in the end regards "the God of hosts" as
chief of the staff. Even the Papacy has never been able to carry on politics in a Christian way . . . ; and when Reformers indulge in politics,
as Luther did, it is well known that they are just as ardent followers of Machiavelli as any other im tmoralists or tyrants.
2 I 2.
Christianity is still possible at any moment. It is not bound to any one of the impudent
whatever of metaphysics, and it needs asceticism and Christian "natural science" still less. Christi
anity is a method of life, not a system of belief. It tells us how we should behave, not what we should believe.
He who says to-day: "I refuse to be a soldier," "I care not for tribunals," "I lay no
claim to the services of the police," "I will not do anything that disturbs the peace within me:
? that have adorned themselves with its name: it needs neither the teaching of the personal God, nor of sin, nor of immortality, nor of redemption, nor of faith; it has absolutely no need
? ?
in of in
to
? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
I53
order to create a belief for themselves. And just .
as the priesthood had falsified the whole history of Israel, another attempt was made, here, to alter
and falsify the whole history of mankind in such a way as to make Christianity seem like the most
important event it contained. This movement could have originated only upon the soil of Judaism,
the main feature of which was the confounding of
guilt with sorrow and the reduction of all sin to sin against God. Of all this, Christianity is the
second degree of power.
I83.
The symbolism of Christianity is based upon
that of Judaism, which had already transfigured
all reality (history, Nature) into a holy and artificial unreality--which refused to recognise
real history, and which showed no more interest in a natural course of things.
I84.
The Jews made the attempt to prevail, after two of their castes--the warrior and the agri cultural castes, had disappeared from their midst.
In this sense they are the "castrated people": they have their priests and then--their Chandala. .
How easily a disturbance occurs among them-- an insurrection of their Chandala. This was the
origin of Christianity.
Owing to the fact that they had no knowledge of
warriors except as their masters, they introduced
\
? ? ? ? I54
THE WILL TO POWER.
enmity towards the nobles, the men of honour, pride, and power, and the ruling classes, into their religion: they are pessimists from indignation. . . .
Thus they created a very important and novel position: the priests in the van of the Chandala --against the noble classes. . . .
Christianity was the logical conclusion of this movement: even in the Jewish priesthood, it still scented the existence of the caste, of the privileged
and noble minority--it therefore did away with priests.
Christ is the unit of the Chandala who removes
the priest . . . the Chandala who redeems himself. . . .
That is why the French Revolution is the lineal descendant and the continuator of Christianity-- it is characterised by an instinct of hate towards castes, nobles, and the last privileges.
185.
The "Christian Ideal" put on the stage with Jewish astuteness -- these are the fundamental
psychological forces of "nature":--
Revolt against the ruling spiritual powers;
? make those virtues which facili the lowly, standard all call God that which no more than the self-preservative instinct that
The attempt tate the happiness values--in fact,
class man possessed least vitality;
Obedience and absolute abstention from war
and resistance, justified by this ideal;
? ? of
of
a
to
to of
its
of is of
? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
I55
The love of one another as a result of the love of God.
The trick : The denial of all natural mobilia, and their transference to the spiritual world beyond . . . the exploitation of virtue and its veneration for wholly interested motives, gradual denial of virtue in everything that is not Christian.
I 86.
The profound contempt with which the Christian
was treated by the noble people of antiquity, is of
the same order as the present instinctive aversion
to Jews: it is the hatred which free and self
? respecting
classes feel towards those who wish to
creep in secretly, and who combine an awkward bearing with foolish self-sufficiency.
The New Testament is the gospel of a com pletely ignoble species of man; its pretensions to
highest values--yea, to all values, fact, revolting--even nowadays.
187.
How little the subject matters!
which gives the thing life What
matter
the spirit quantity
stuffy and sick-room air there all that chattet about "redemption," "love," "blessedness," "faith,"
"truth," "eternal life"! Let any one look into really pagan book and compare the two; for in
stance, Petronius, nothing all done, said, desired, and valued, which, according bigoted Christian estimate, not sin, even deadly sin. And yet how happy one feels with the purer air, the
? ? is
or
at
is in
in
|
a It
to is as
is aa
a
of
of
is,
? 156
THE WILL TO POWER.
superiorintellectuality, the quicker pace, and the free
overflowing strength which is certain of the future I In the whole of the New Testament there is not
one bouffonnerie: but that fact alone would suffice to refute any book. . . .
I 88.
The profound lack of dignity with which all life,
which is not Christian, is condemned: it does not
suffice them to think meanly of their actual oppon
ents, they cannot do with less than a general
slander of everything that is not themselves. . . .
An abject and crafty soul is in the most perfect harmony with the arrogance of piety, as witness
the early Christians.
The future : they see that they are heavily paid
for Theirs the muddiest kind of spirit
? arranged confirm the prophecies the Scriptures:
that exists. The whole Christ's life
He behaves suchwise order that they may be right.
189.
The deceptive interpretation the words, the doings, and the condition dying people; the natural fear death, for instance, systematically confounded with the supposed fear what happen "after death. "
I90.
The Christians have done exactly what the Jews did before them. They introduced what they
? ? of
. is
.
in of of
of
is so
is to
is
of
of
to .
it. .
.
.
. .
in
as
? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
I57
thing necessary to self-preservation into their Master's
teaching, and wove His life into They likewise credited Him with all the wisdom of maker of
proverbs--in short, they represented their every day life and activity act obedience, and
thus sanctified their propaganda.
What all depends upon, may gathered
from Paul: not much. What remains the development type saint, out the values which these people regarded saintly.
The whole the "doctrine miracles," in cluding the resurrection, the result self
conceived to be an innovation and a
? glorification
ascribed itself, but
the part the community, which
its Master those qualities ascribed higher degree (or, better still,
derived strength from Him.
The Christians have never led the life which
Jesus commanded them lead, and the impudent fable the "justification by faith," and its unique
and transcendental significance, only the result the Church's lack courage and will acknow
ledging those "works" which Jesus commanded. The Buddhist behaves differently from the non
Buddhist;
the world does, and possesses Christianity
but the Christian behaves all the rest
ceremonies and states of the soul.
The profound and contemptible falsehood
Christianity Europe makes deserve the con tempt the Arabs, Hindoos, and Chinese.
? ? of
of of
of
to its
in
in on a
it
us
as
is
. of
it. a
.
. of of
of
a is in
. of of
of I a
as an
to
9I.
of
to
it of
. ).
of
as
be
it
is
it
is of
? 158
THE WILL TO POWER.
Let any one listen to the words of the first German statesman, concerning that which has preoccupied Europe for the last forty years.
I 92.
"Faith" or "works"? --But that the "works," the habit of particular works may engender a certain set of values or thoughts, is just as natural as it would be unnatural for "works" to proceed from mere valuations. Man must practise, not how to strengthen feelings of value, but how to strengthen action: first of all, one must be able to do some thing. . . . Luther's Christian Dilettantism. Faith is an asses' bridge. The background consists of a profound conviction on the part of Luther and his peers, that they are unable to accomplish Christian "works," a personal fact, disguised under an extreme doubt as to whether all action
is not sin and devil's work, so that the worth of life depends upon isolated and highly-strained conditions of inactivity (prayer, effusion, etc. ). -- Ultimately, Luther would be right: the instincts which are expressed by the whole bearing of the
? Only in turning absolutely away from themselves, and in becoming absorbed in the opposite of themselves,
reformers are the most brutal that exist.
only by
existence endurable to them.
means of an illusion ("faith") was
I93.
"What was to be done in order to believe? "--
an absurd question. That which is wrong with
? ? ? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
I59
Christianity that does none the things that Christ commanded.
contempt.
mean life, but seen through the eye
I94.
The entrance into the real life--a man saves his own life living the life the multitude.
95.
Christianity has become something fundament
ally different from what its Founder wished
be. the great anti-pagan movement anti
quity, formulated with the use the life, teaching,
and "words" the Founder Christianity, but
? interpreted quite arbitrarily, according
scheme
embodying profoundly different needs: translated
into the language all the subterranean religions then existing.
the rise Pessimism (whereas Jesus wished bring the peace and the happiness
the lambs): and moreover the Pessimism the weak, the inferior, the suffering, and the
oppressed.
Its mortal enemies are (1) Power, whether the form character, intellect, taste, and
"worldliness"; (2) the "good cheer" classical times, the noble levity and scepticism, hard pride,
eccentric dissipation, and cold frugality the sage,
Greek refinement manners, words, and form.
Its mortal enemy much the Roman the Greek.
? ? as
of of
of
it
or of of
to a
of
of of
is to
of
as of I
by
is,
is in
of of
it
in
of
to
of
It
It is
It is a
of of
of
? 16O THE WILL TO POWER.
The attempt on the part of anti-paganism to
establish itself on a philosophical basis, and to
make tenets possible: shows taste for the ambiguous figures antique culture, and above
all for Plato, who was, more than any other, an
anti-Hellene and Semite instinct. shows taste for Stoicism, which
also essentially
("dignity"
severity, law; virtue held be greatness, self
the work Semites
regarded
responsibility, authority, greatest sovereignty oneself--this Semitic. The Stoic an Arabian
over sheik wrapped Greek togas and notions.
? 196.
Christianity only resumes the fight which had
already been begun against the classical ideal and noble religion.
As matter fact, the whole process
transformation only an adaptation
needs and
masses then
believed
"great mother," and which demanded the follow
ing things religion: (1) hopes beyond,
(2) the bloody phantasmagoria animal sacrifice (the mystery), (3) holy legend and the redeeming
the
community.
increasing anti-pagan tendency--those
Epicurus combated,-- more exactly, those
intelligence
the religious
the level
existing:--those masses
which Isis, Mithras, Dionysos, and the
the world, super hierarchy part
short, Christianity everywhere fitted the already prevailing and
deed, (4) asceticism, denial stitious "purification," (5)
cults which
? ? -
or
a
it
of
* of
is in
as
It as
of
of
to
of a
of
a to
a in
a
its
to a
of
is
of
of In of in
of
is
is is . . .
a
is
? CRITICISM OF RELIGION. * I6I
religions proper to the lower herd, women, slaves,
and ignoble classes.
The misunderstandings are therefore the
following:--
(1) The immortality of the individual;
(2) The assumed existence of another world;
(3) The absurd notion of punishment and expiation in the heart of the interpretation of existence;
(4) The profanation of the divine nature of
man, instead of its accentuation, and the con
struction of a very profound chasm, which can
only be crossed by the help of a miracle or by means of the most thorough self-contempt;
(5) The whole world of corrupted imagination
and morbid passion, instead of a simple and
loving life of action, instead of Buddhistic happiness attainable on earth;
? priesthood, theology, cults, and sacraments; in short, every
(6) An ecclesiastical order with a
thing that Jesus of Nazareth combated;
(7) The miraculous in everything and every body, superstition too: while precisely the trait
which distinguished Judaism and primitive Christianity was their repugnance to miracles and their relative rationalism.
I97.
The psychological pre-requisites:--Ignorance and lack of culture,--the sort of ignorance which has un
learned every kind of shame: let any one imagine
those impudent saints in the heart of Athens; VOL. I. L
? ? ? I62 THE WILL TO POWER.
The Jewish instinct of a chosen people: they appropriate all the virtues, without further ado,
as their own, and regard the rest of the world as their opposite; this is a profound sign of spiritual depravity;
The total lack of real aims and real duties, for which other virtues are required than those of the
State undertook this work for them: and the impudent people still behaved as though they had no need of the State. "Except ye become as little children"--oh, how far we are from this psychological ingenuousness!
I98.
The Founder of Christianity had to pay dearly
for having directed His teaching at the lowest classes of Jewish society and intelligence. They
understood Him only according to the limitations of their own spirit. . . . It was a disgrace to concoct a history of salvation, a personal God, a personal Saviour, a personal immortality, and to have
retained all the meanness of the "person," and of the "history" of a doctrine which denies the reality of all that is personal and historical.
The legend of salvation takes the place of the symbolic "now" and "all time," of the symbolic
"here" and "everywhere"; and miracles appear instead of the psychological symbol.
I 99.
Nothing is less innocent than the New Testa ment. The soil from which it sprang is known.
bigot--the
? ? ? ? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
163
These people, possessed of an inflexible will to assert themselves, and who, once they had lost
natural hold on life, and had long existed without any right existence, still knew how
prevail by means hypotheses which were unnatural they were imaginary (calling them
selves the chosen people, the community saints, the people the promised land, and the
"Church"): these people made use their pia fraus with such skill, and with such "clean
consciences,"
when they preach morality. When Jews step forward the personification innocence, the danger must great. While reading the New Testament man should have his small fund of intelligence, mistrust, and wickedness constantly at hand.
People the lowest origin, partly mob, out casts not only from good society, but also from
that one cannot be too cautious
? respectable society; grown away
atmosphere culture, and free from discipline; ignorant, without even suspicion the fact that
spiritual matters; word--the Jews: an instinctively crafty people,
able create an advantage, means seduction out every conceivable hypothesis superstition,
even out ignorance itself.
2OO.
conscience can also rule
regard Christianity
seductive lie that has ever yet existed--as the greatest and most impious lie: can discern the
the most fatal and
from the
? ? as I
a in
I
of to
all
of
of
of
aas as be
of
of of
of
of
a
in a
of asto
of
of to
? 164
THE WILL TO POWER.
last sprouts and branches of its ideal beneath every form of disguise, I decline to enter into any compromise or false position in reference to it-- I urge people to declare open war with
The morality paltry people the measure all things: this the most repugnant kind
degeneracy that civilisation has ever yet brought
However modest one's demands may be concerning intellectual cleanliness, when one
into existence. And this kind ideal
still, under the name "God," over men's heads
2O I.
help experiencing sort inexpressible feeling dis
touches the New Testament one cannot
comfort;
the least qualified people will have their say
its pages, regard the greatest problems
existence, and claim sit judgment on
such matters, exceeds limits. The impudent levity with which the most unwieldy problems
are spoken here (life, the world, God, the purpose life), they were not problems
all, but the most simple things which these little bigots know all about ! ! !
2O2.
This was the most fatal form insanity that has ever yet existed on earth:--when these little lying abortions bigotry begin laying claim
the words "God," "last judgment," "truth,"
for the unbounded cheek with which
hanging
? ? ? to of of ! !
of
as if
of to
is of of
of
in
of is
as
of
in of
a
all
to
it. atin of
of
? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
"love,33 go wisdom," "Holy Spirit," and thereby
the salt, the standard, and the measure of all
persecute them was an egregious act of antique folly: this was taking them too seriously; it was
making them serious.
The whole fatality was made possible by the
fact that a similar form of megalomania was
already in existence, the Jewish form (once the
gulf separating the Jews from the Christian-Jews
was bridged, the Christian-Jews were compelled to employ those self-preservative measures afresh
which were discovered by the Jewish instinct, for their own self-preservation, after having accent
uated them); and again through the fact that Greek moral philosophy had done everything
that could be done to prepare the way for moral-fanaticism, even among Greeks and Romans,
and to render it palatable. . . . Plato, the great importer of corruption, who was the first
who refused to see Nature in morality, and who had already deprived the Greek gods of all their worth by his notion "good," was already tainted with Jewish bigotry (in Egypt? ).
2O3.
These small virtues of gregarious animals do not by any means lead to "eternal life": to put
distinguishing
themselves from the rest of the world; when such men begin to transvalue values to suit themselves, as though they were the sense,
things;
then all that one should do is this: build lunatic asylums for their incarceration. To
165
? ? ? ? I66 THE WILL TO POWER.
them on the stage in such a way, and oneself
with them is perhaps very smart; but to him who keeps his eyes open, even here, it remains, in spite
of all, the most ludicrous performance. A man by no means deserves privileges, either on earth or
in heaven, because he happens to have attained to perfection in the art of behaving like a good
natured little sheep; at best, he only remains a dear, absurd little ram with horns--provided, of
course, he does not burst with vanity or excite indignation by assuming the airs of a supreme
judge.
What a terrible glow of false colouring here
floods the meanest virtues--as though they were
the reflection of divine qualities !
The natural purpose and utility of every
virtue is systematically hushed up; it can only be valuable in the light of a divine command or model, or in the light of the good which belongs
to a beyond-or a spiritual world. (This is
magnificent! question
As if it were a of
the salvation of the soul: but it was a means of making things bearable here with as many beautiful sentiments as possible. )
2O4.
? The law, which is the fundamentally realistic formula of certain self-preservative measures of a community, forbids certain actions that have a definite tendency to jeopardise the welfare of that community: it does not forbid the attitude of mind
which gives rise to these actions--for in the pur
? ? ? CRITICISM OF RELIGION,
167
suit of other ends the community requires these forbidden actions, namely, when it is a matter of
opposing
its enemies. The moral idealist now
steps forward and says: "God sees into men's
hearts: the action itself counts for nothing; the
reprehensible attitude of mind from which it pro
ceeds must be extirpated. . . . " In normal
conditions men laugh at such things; it is only
in exceptional cases, when a community lives quite beyond the need of waging war in order to main
tain itself, that an ear is lent to such things. Any
attitude of mind is abandoned, the utility of which cannot be conceived.
This was the case, for example, when Buddha appeared among a people that was both peaceable
and afflicted with great intellectual weariness. This was also the case in regard to the first Christian community (as also the Jewish), the
primary condition of which was the absolutely unpolitical Jewish society. Christianity could grow
only upon the soil of Judaism--that is to say,
among a people that had already renounced the political life, and which led a sort of parasitic
existence within the Roman sphere of government, Christianity goes a step farther: it allows men to "emasculate" themselves even more ; the circum stances actually favour their doing so. --Nature is expelled from morality when it is said, "Love ye
your enemies": for Nature's injunction, "Ye shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy," has
now become senseless in the law (in instinct); now, even the love a man feels for his neighbour must first be based upon something (a sort of love
? ? ? ? I68 THE WILL TO POWER.
of God). God is introduced everywhere, and utility is withdrawn; the natural origin of morality
is denied everywhere: the veneration of Nature, which lies in acknowledging a natural morality, is
destroyed to the roots. . . .
Whence comes the seductive charm of this
emasculate ideal of man? Why are we not disgusted by just we are disgusted the thought eunuch The answer obvious: not the
voice the eunuch that revolts us, despite the cruel mutilation which the result; for, matter fact, has grown sweeter. And owing the very fact that the "male organ" has
been amputated from virtue, voice now has feminine ring, which, formerly, was not be
discerned.
On the other hand, we have only think the terrible hardness, dangers, and accidents
which life manly virtues leads--the life Corsican, even the present day, that
heathen Arab (which resembles the Corsican's life
even the smallest detail: the Arab's songs might
have been written by Corsicans)--in order
perceive how the most robust type man was
fascinated and moved by the voluptuous ring this "goodness" and "purity. " pastoral
melody an idyll the "good man": such
things have most effect ages when tragedy abroad.
With this, we have realised what extent the "idealist" (the ideal eunuch) also proceeds from
? ? ? sk
in .
it is
to . . .
its
is
at
to a .
it, . as
.
toofof". it of
. .
of at
of or to . .
it
A
a isoftoaatoof aa
of of to
as
of
a
is
? ideal (this kind scale by Paul
relation mildest form
hostility shown on
CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
I69
definite reality and is not merely a visionary. . . . He has perceived precisely that, for his kind of
reality, a brutal injunction of the sort which pro
hibits certain actions has no sense (because the
instinct which would urge him to these actions is weakened, thanks to a long need of practice, and
of compulsion to practise). The castrator formu
lates a host of new self-preservative measures for
a perfectly definite species of men: in this sense he is a realist. The means to which he has
recourse for establishing his legislation, are the
same as those of ancient legislators: he appeals to all authorities, to "God," and he exploits the notions "guilt and punishment"--that is to say, he avails himself of the whole of the older ideal, but interprets it differently; for instance: punish
ment is given a place in the inner self called the pang conscience).
practice this kind man meets with his end the moment the exceptional conditions favouring his existence cease prevail--a sort insular happiness, like that Tahiti, and the little Jews
the Roman provinces. Their only natural foe the soil from which they spring: they must wage war against that, and once more give their offensive
? and defensive passions rope order
it: their opponents are the adherents
equal
the old grand
relation Judaism, and by Luther
the priestly ascetic ideal). The this antagonism certainly that
the first Buddhists; perhaps nothing has given rise much work, the enfeeblement and
? ? to so
In of
as
to
of
of
in
is in
of to in
of
is is
in
a
of be to
of
(it is
of to
of to
? THE WILL TO POWER. discouragement of the feeling of antagonism. The
17o
struggle against
Buddhist's first duty; thus only is his peace of soul
resentment almost seems the
secured. To isolate oneself without
bitterness, this presupposes the existence of a surprisingly
mild and sweet order of men,--saints. . . . :k
The Astuteness of moral castration. --How is war waged against the virile passions and valuations? No violent physical means are available; the war must therefore be one of ruses, spells, and lies--in
-
short, a "spiritual war. "
First recipe: One appropriates virtue in general,
and makes it the main feature of one's ideal; the older ideal is denied and declared to be the reverse
of all ideals. Slander has to be carried to a fine art for this purpose.
Second recipe: One's own type is set up as a general standard; and this is projected into all
things, behind all things, and behind the destiny of all things--as God.
Third recipe: The opponents of one's ideal are declared to be the opponents of God; one arro gates to oneself a right to great pathos, to power,
and a right to curse and to bless.
Fourth recipe: All suffering, all gruesome,
terrible, and fatal things are declared to be the results of opposition to one's ideal--all suffering is
? punishment
(except it be a trial, etc. ).
even in the case of one's adherents
Fifth recipe: One goes so far as to regard Nature as the reverse of one's ideal, and the lengthy
? ? ? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
171
sojourn
great trial of patience--a sort of martyrdom; one
studies contempt, both in one's attitudes and one's
looks towards all "natural things. "
Sixth recipe: The triumph of anti-naturalism
and ideal castration, the triumph of the world of the pure, good, sinless, and blessed, is projected
into the future as the consummation, the finale, the great hope, and the "Coming of the Kingdom of God. "
I hope that one may still be allowed to laugh at this artificial hoisting up of a small species of
man to the position of an absolute standard of all things?
2O5.
What I do not at all like in Jesus of Nazareth
and His Apostle Paul, is that they stuffed so much
into the heads of paltry people, as if their modest virtues were worth so much ado. We have had
to pay dearly for it all; for they brought the most
valuable qualities of both virtue and man into
repute; they set the guilty conscience and the self-respect noble souls loggerheads, and
they led the braver, more magnanimous, more daring,
and more excessive tendencies strong souls astray --even to self-destruction.
2O6.
the New Testament, and especially the Gospels, discern absolutely no sign Divine" voice: but rather an indirect form the most
amid natural conditions is considered a
? ? ? of o f a"
In I
in
of
at
of
ill
? 172
THE WILL TO POWER.
subterranean fury, both in slander and destructive ness--one of the most dishonest forms of hatred.
It lacks all knowledge of the qualities of a higher
nature. It makes an impudent abuse of all kinds of plausibilities, and the whole stock of proverbs is used up and foisted upon one in its pages. Was it necessary to make a God come in order to appeal to those publicans and to say to them, etc. etc. ?
Nothing could be more vulgar than this struggle
with the Pharisees, carried on with a host of absurd and unpractical moral pretences; the mob, of course,
has always been entertained by such feats. Fancy the reproach of "hypocrisy 1" coming from those
lips | Nothing could be more vulgar than this treatment of one's opponents--a most insidious sign of nobility or its reverse. . . .
207.
Primitive Christianity is the abolition of the State: it prohibits oaths, military service, courts of
justice, self-defence or the defence of a community, and denies the difference between fellow-country men and strangers, as also the order of castes.
? Christ's example : He does not withstand those
who ill-treat Him; He does not defend Himself;
He does more, He "offers the left cheek" (to the demand: "Tell us whether thou be the Christ? "
He replies: "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and
coming in the clouds of heaven"). He forbids His disciples to defend Him; He calls attention to
? ? ? CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
I73
the fact that He could get help if He wished to, but will not.
Christianity also means the abolition of society, it prizes everything that society despises, its very growth takes place among the outcasts, the con demned, and the leprous of all kinds, as also among "publicans," "sinners," prostitutes,
foolish of men (the "fisher folk"); it despises the rich, the scholarly, the noble, the virtuous, and the
"punctilious. "
. . .
2O8.
The war against the noble and the powerful, as it is waged in the New Testament, is reminis cent of Reynard the Fox and his methods: but
plus the priestly unction and the more absolute refusal to recognise one's own craftiness.
2O9.
The Gospel is the announcement that the road to happiness lies open for the lowly and the
poor--that all one has to do is to emancipate one's self from all institutions, traditions, and the
tutelage of the higher classes. Thus Christianity
is no more than the typical teaching of Socialists.
and the most
? Property, acquisitions, mother-country,
and rank, tribunals, the police, the State, the
Church, Education, Art, militarism: all these are
so many obstacles in the way of happiness, so many mistakes, snares, and devil's artifices, on
which the Gospel passes sentence--all this is typical of socialistic doctrines.
Behind all this there is the outburst, the ex
status
? ? ? I74
THE WILL TO POWER.
plosion, of a concentrated loathing of the "masters," -- the instinct which discerns the happiness of freedom after such long oppression. . . .
(Mostly a symptom of the fact that the inferior classes have been treated too humanely, that their tongues already taste a joy which is forbidden them. . . . It is not hunger that provokes revolu tions, but the fact that the mob have contracted an appetite en mangeant. . . . )
2 IO.
Let the New Testament only be read as a book of seduction: in it virtue is appropriated, with the idea that public opinion is best won with it,-- and as a matter of fact it is a very modest kind of virtue, which recognises only the ideal gregarious animal and nothing more (including, of course,
the herdsmen): a puny, soft, benevolent, helpful, and gushingly-satisfied kind of virtue which to the outside world is quite devoid of pretensions,-- and which separates the "world" entirely from itself. The crassest arrogance which fancies that the destiny of man turns around and alone,
? and that on the one side the
community
believers represents what right, and on the
other the world represents what false and eternally be reproved and rejected. The most
imbecile hatred all things power, which, how ever, never goes far touch these things.
kind inner detachment
leaves everything was (servitude and slavery; and knowing how convert everything into means serving God and virtue).
which, outwardly,
? ? of
of
to
a
of
as
A
so of to it
as
to in
is
is
it, it
? dogmas
CRITICISM OF RELIGION.
2 II.
I75
Christianity is possible as the most private
form of life; it presupposes the existence of a narrow, isolated, and absolutely unpolitical society
--it belongs to the conventicle. On the other
hand, a "Christian State," "Christian politics," are pieces of downright impudence; they are lies, like,
for instance, a Christian leadership of an army, which in the end regards "the God of hosts" as
chief of the staff. Even the Papacy has never been able to carry on politics in a Christian way . . . ; and when Reformers indulge in politics,
as Luther did, it is well known that they are just as ardent followers of Machiavelli as any other im tmoralists or tyrants.
2 I 2.
Christianity is still possible at any moment. It is not bound to any one of the impudent
whatever of metaphysics, and it needs asceticism and Christian "natural science" still less. Christi
anity is a method of life, not a system of belief. It tells us how we should behave, not what we should believe.
He who says to-day: "I refuse to be a soldier," "I care not for tribunals," "I lay no
claim to the services of the police," "I will not do anything that disturbs the peace within me:
? that have adorned themselves with its name: it needs neither the teaching of the personal God, nor of sin, nor of immortality, nor of redemption, nor of faith; it has absolutely no need
? ?
