“ there was only one Christian, and he died on the cross. ”
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist (1895). copy citation
| Author | Friedrich Nietzsche |
|---|---|
| Source | The Antichrist |
| Topic | religion Christianity |
| Date | 1895 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Henry Louis Mencken |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Antichrist |
Context
“To be a soldier, to be a judge, to be a patriot; to defend one's self; to be careful of one's honour; to desire one's own advantage; to be proud … every act of everyday, every instinct, every valuation that shows itself in a deed, is now anti-Christian: what a monster of falsehood the modern man must be to call himself nevertheless, and without shame, a Christian!—
39. —I shall go back a bit, and tell you the authentic history of Christianity.—The very word «Christianity» is a misunderstanding—at bottom there was only one Christian, and he died on the cross. The «Gospels» died on the cross. What, from that moment onward, was called the «Gospels» was the very reverse of what he had lived: «bad tidings,» a Dysangelium.[ 14] It is an error amounting to nonsensicality to see in «faith,» and particularly in faith in salvation through Christ, the distinguishing mark of the Christian: only the Christian way of life, the life lived by him who died on the cross, is Christian….” source
39. —I shall go back a bit, and tell you the authentic history of Christianity.—The very word «Christianity» is a misunderstanding—at bottom there was only one Christian, and he died on the cross. The «Gospels» died on the cross. What, from that moment onward, was called the «Gospels» was the very reverse of what he had lived: «bad tidings,» a Dysangelium.[ 14] It is an error amounting to nonsensicality to see in «faith,» and particularly in faith in salvation through Christ, the distinguishing mark of the Christian: only the Christian way of life, the life lived by him who died on the cross, is Christian….” source
Meaning and analysis
