Plague Journal, There Has Been Only One
39
The word ‘Christianity’
is already a misunderstanding –
In reality there has been only one Christian,
and he died on a Cross.
The ‘Evangel’ died on the Cross.
What was called ‘Evangel’ from this moment onwards
was already the opposite of what he had lived:
the ‘bad tidings’ a dysangel.
It is false to the point of absurdity
to see in a ‘belief’, perchance
the belief in redemption through Christ,
the distinguishing characteristic of the Christian:
only Christian practice,
a life such as he who died on a Cross lived,
is Christian….
Even today, such a life is possible,
for certain men even necessary:
genuine primitive Christianity will be possible
in all times….
not a belief but a doing,
above all a not-doing of many things,
a different being.
…states of consciousness, beliefs of any kind,
holding something to be true for example —
every psychologist knows this –
are a matter of complete indifference
and are of the fifth rank
compared with the values of the instincts:
to speak more strictly,
the whole concept of spiritual causality is false.
To reduce being a Christian, to holding something
to be true, to a mere phenomenality in consciousness
means to negate Christian-ness.
In fact there have been no Christians at all…..
I have never forgotten my discovery of the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche while in college. Another way to put it, I’ve never recovered from Nietzsche. Not that I ever thought that I understood all that I was reading, when reading what he had to say. Nietzsche was a brilliant intellect, being appointed professor of philology at Basil University at 24 years of age, before being awarded his Phd. I, on the other hand am of average intelligence. On that account alone, I must work hard to grasp what this artist-philosopher has to say.
Recently I decided to review two works, Twilight of the Idols, and The Anti-Christ written in 1888, the last sane year of his life. These rather short works offer clues to the conundrum of how persons can claim to be Christians, followers-of-Christ, and yet have attitudes and behaviors of an ass-hole. Can one be a jerk, a racist, a white-nationalist, a Trump supporter, and a Christian? It appears that is possible, when you look at the numbers of Evangelicals forming the core of the president’s base, and those pushing back at the BLM movement.
In this passage quoted from The Anti-Christ, Nietzsche emphasizes that one’s practice alone, one’s manner of living is the only thing that qualifies one to claim to be a Christian. What one believes, or in Nietzsche’s words, a phenomenon* of consciousness is irrelevant in the matter of Christianity. Claims of faith, to assert or to believe that ‘Christ is your redeemer’ has nothing at all to do with behavior. To think that belief/faith counts, is just a massive mistake, an error.
To conclude, a great many of us have made, and are making a catastrophic mistake.
*A phenomenon of the mind is a transient, passing condition, like the weather.
