The Antichrist: A Criticism of Christianity

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The Antichrist: A Criticism of Christianity

by Friedrich Nietzsche, Dennis Sweet (Introduction), Anthony M.. Ludovici (Translation)

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 6,196 ratings · 234 reviews

paperback, 80 pages

Published March 16th 2006 by Barnes and Noble (NY) (first published 1888)

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Sep 16, 2011 Paquita Maria Sanchez rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: truthiness, invisible-pink-unicorn

I will write a review of The Antichrist...it will involve growing up around my eloquent and Nietzsche-obsessed brother and the resulting aversion I have to every bit of his closet Libertarian, brazenly pro-Rand philosophy, and will break down the anti-humanitarian elements of Nietzche's diatribe which bother me, hinting at the seductive quality of his dominant, persuasive writing style and how I constantly struggle against disagreeing with him since he is, to all appearances, dead serious in bre...more I will write a review of The Antichrist...it will involve growing up around my eloquent and Nietzsche-obsessed brother and the resulting aversion I have to every bit of his closet Libertarian, brazenly pro-Rand philosophy, and will break down the anti-humanitarian elements of Nietzche's diatribe which bother me, hinting at the seductive quality of his dominant, persuasive writing style and how I constantly struggle against disagreeing with him since he is, to all appearances, dead serious in breaking down the importance of each person caring about himself and doing right by his own set of principles rather than wasting precious, horrifyingly brief time worshiping a godhead...I will pump my fist in the air for him as he decries the cleverly masked harm within organized religion as political tool, and how it leads us to false ends, wasted lives, and sharp, unforgivable prejudices. Being that I want to devote my life to non-profit service, I will grumble at his hatred-drenched commentary on the "botched" members of society and how we only care for those less fortunate than ourselves because we have been derailed from the path of true self-fulfillment by religious brainwashing. You will understand my disrespectful rating...you will see that I am torn.

I LOVED this passage:

Under Christianity neither morality nor religion has any point of contact with actuality. It offers purely imaginary causes (“God,” "soul," "ego," "spirit," "free will"—or even "unfree"), and purely imaginary effects ("sin," "salvation," "grace," "punishment," "forgiveness of sins"). Intercourse between imaginary beings ("God," "spirits," "souls"); an imaginary natural history (anthropocentric; a total denial of the concept of natural causes); an imaginary psychology (misunderstandings of self, misinterpretations of agreeable or disagreeable general feelings—for example, of the states of the nervus sympathicus with the help of the sign-language of religio-ethical balderdash—, "repentance," "pangs of conscience," "temptation by the devil," "the presence of God"); an imaginary teleology (the "kingdom of God," "the last judgment," "eternal life").—This purely fictitious world, greatly to its disadvantage, is to be differentiated from the world of dreams; the latter at least reflects reality, whereas the former falsifies it, cheapens it and denies it. Once the concept of "nature" had been opposed to the concept of "God," the word "natural" necessarily took on the meaning of "abominable"—the whole of that fictitious world has its sources in hatred of the natural (—the real!—), and is no more than evidence of a profound uneasiness in the presence of reality.... This explains everything. Who alone has any reason for living his way out of reality? The man who suffers under it. But to suffer from reality one must be a botched reality...."

Oh, and this:

What follows, then? That one had better put on gloves before reading the New Testament. The presence of so much filth makes it very advisable.(less)

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Feb 10, 2013 Iori Yagami rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

أعتقد أن العنوان الثاني أكثر بلاغة : هذا الكتاب عبارة عن لعنة فلسفية للمسيحية. كل هذا الحقد يثير الدهشة بالفعل. و لا يمكن أن أتفهمه الا لو تعرّفت على النمط الاجتماعي السائد في المانيا القرن التاسع عشر. لكن عموما ففلسفة الاحتقار النيتشوية، لم تكن المسيحية ضحيتها الوحيدة و ان كانت أشدها.

يدهشني نيتشه في هذا الكتاب بأنه كملحد لا أخلاقيّ، لا يعادي الأديان تماما، و رغم سلسلة اللعنات التي يطلقها على المسيحية في هذا الكتاب، فهو يقرّ أيضا بأهميّة الإله الذي قدمته بعض الثقافات الأخرى. المهمّ بالنسبة لنيتش...more أعتقد أن العنوان الثاني أكثر بلاغة : هذا الكتاب عبارة عن لعنة فلسفية للمسيحية. كل هذا الحقد يثير الدهشة بالفعل. و لا يمكن أن أتفهمه الا لو تعرّفت على النمط الاجتماعي السائد في المانيا القرن التاسع عشر. لكن عموما ففلسفة الاحتقار النيتشوية، لم تكن المسيحية ضحيتها الوحيدة و ان كانت أشدها.

يدهشني نيتشه في هذا الكتاب بأنه كملحد لا أخلاقيّ، لا يعادي الأديان تماما، و رغم سلسلة اللعنات التي يطلقها على المسيحية في هذا الكتاب، فهو يقرّ أيضا بأهميّة الإله الذي قدمته بعض الثقافات الأخرى. المهمّ بالنسبة لنيتشة هو احترام الانسان لغرائزه، و احترام الاله لغرائز الانسان التي جبله عليها.

أيضا، بدا لي نيتشة اكثر منطقية في هدمه.. لا توجد تناقضات كبيرة هذه المرة، خلافا لأفول الأوثان. لا أريد الخوض في المسائل التيولوجية، فهناك الكثير من المسائل التي يمكن للقس أن يؤاخذ عليها، كتأويل الاصحاحات المذكورة، يجب التنويه ان بعض الاصحاحات احدث عليها بعض التحويرات..

في النهاية، حاول نيتشة تقديم البديل، صفحة يتيمة، حاول أن يكسبها الهالة القدسية اللازمة لبناء بديل للمسيح، لكنّها كانت في نهاية الأمر هدما لا بناء. تواصل لعنات على المسيحية. نقيض المسيح الذي قدمه في النهاية مجرد كاره للمسيحية. و لا أدري لماذا، لقد بدا لي الأمر متسرعا جدا، و كان من الممكن أن يطبخ نقيض المسيح بطريقة أكثر عبقرية، خصوصا و قد وفّر لنفسه طيلة الكتاب ـ لعن المسيحية، العناصر الكافية للطبخة..

أجل، يجب مراجعة قيم الخير و الشر، قياسها الاول الحياة نفسها. الغرائز الأساسية، حفظ النوع، القيم الطبيعية الاولى.
أجل الطبيعة تفرض نظاما هرميا، و المساواة الجرداء مجرّد هذيان.(less)

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Aug 20, 2012 Julie Rylie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: strongly-recommend, favourites

I love Nietzsche jeden mal, what can I say. I love his witty, sarcastic and controvertional thoughts.

I love how he starts the book by clamming the reader has to have achieved a certain state of consciousness to be able to read him and that they need seven solitudes experience to understand him.

what is happiness? The sensation that power is growing and one resistance has been tamed (lovely)

Being Nietzsche the anti Christ himself, he puts Christianity into such a down level that it’s impossibl...more I love Nietzsche jeden mal, what can I say. I love his witty, sarcastic and controvertional thoughts.

I love how he starts the book by clamming the reader has to have achieved a certain state of consciousness to be able to read him and that they need seven solitudes experience to understand him.

what is happiness? The sensation that power is growing and one resistance has been tamed (lovely)

Being Nietzsche the anti Christ himself, he puts Christianity into such a down level that it’s impossible to even make a straight comment on that. He says Christianity wants to annul intellectuality that it feeds on the weak. They want to make people sick, weaken them in order to tame them. It annuls sensations, the joy of sensation, and chastity makes the cult more intense.

Chapter 45 is just pure irony, he takes chapters from the bible and makes sarcastic comments on what has been said, with such geniality, that cannot be described, only read.

He talks about Adam and Eve and how the tree of knowledge is an allegory to the hate of science, of the achievement of the real truth.

One comment that I found extremely interesting, was the fact the he says that germans came up with Protestantism and that if Christianity never ends, germans would be the ones to blame. Ahhahah priceless, seriously genious! Since I’m living here in Germany and surrounded by mainly protestant people and I’ve been thinking a lot about this before, because we have Catholicism in southern European countries where I come from, and young people have already came to the conclusion that it is fanaticism so nearly no one actually goes for their bullshit, but since protestants are a step ahead (being more liberal and all) there is still young people going to church and buying all this god crap. So, definitely I agree with Nietzsche and Protestantism is a trap!

There is some stuff that I don’t agree with, for example, that Islamism sees the man has its first condition or that anarchism and Christianity are alike due to the pretense of all men being equal, he even makes this machist comment that I’m not gonna put here because I don’t want to remember it, even though he is some sort of right.
And genially, he finishes his book appealing that in some point we have to stop counting our years based on the birth of Christ and start counting it from the last day of this Christian era. Maybe someday Nietzsche, someday… I’ll be waiting here for that as well…

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Aug 03, 2011 Randy Hulshizer rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first read this book when i was in high school back the the late 80's. I was not certain about my philosophical or theological viewpoints at the time, and I expected to be met with a well thought out argument against Christianity. This is not what I found. Instead, I found the rantings of an angry man who was clearly reacting against Christians and the Church (proper) and wrongly leveling his disgust against Christianity itself. His arguments were weak and ill-formed at best. Needless to say,...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Madalin Boboc rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, psychology, religious-criticism, existentialism

I liked the passion that his writing style managed to convey,I haven't read other philosophy book whit such intensity as this,it was a rush of blood from the guts to the head.
There where some really good arguments about how Christianity weakness the active and creative power in people and how the same goes for Schopenhauer's pessimism and Buddhism.Still,he regarded Buddhism above church Christianity,because Buddha talked against something real:suffering, and not an invented concept like sin,an...more I liked the passion that his writing style managed to convey,I haven't read other philosophy book whit such intensity as this,it was a rush of blood from the guts to the head.
There where some really good arguments about how Christianity weakness the active and creative power in people and how the same goes for Schopenhauer's pessimism and Buddhism.Still,he regarded Buddhism above church Christianity,because Buddha talked against something real:suffering, and not an invented concept like sin,and he regarded Jesus real message [or what he himself took as Jesus real message] as superior to the Christianity that was latter developed by the church, because he but forward a way of life and not fantasies and dogmas. Again this is Nietzsche's interpretation ,I'm don't know how much is true.
So he wanted strong individuals,that don't need the comfort of imaginary after-life because they are highly self confident and manage to accept life whit the good but also the terrible.Which I can only respect.I think he generalized christians to much though, which doesn't fit well,because when you call an entire religion "petty bigots" you sound like the real bigot.An important point he makes is the change of Pascal from an intellectually strong man to a humble christian.
This book also shows his high esteem for science,he was just against taking theme as the supreme goal of humankind and self-sacrifice in their name.
Also he was against emotional suffering caused by suffering of others,cause this multiplies the suffering and makes more people depressed,and respectively weakens their power of activity and creativity.Again,a positive message.But I would liked it more if he also showed what is good at compassion,like Spinoza.I would have found this especially comforting since he use some strong language that I found shocking at first,like "no peace,but war". Than again he doesn't seems anywhere to refer to anything but an intellectual war like he said in "Thus Sprachst Zarathustra",he also said that Christianity started the war.Still,it could be interpreted in a violent way,and Nietzsche bears some responsibility in that.Of course Nietzsche thinks that a strong man should have responsibilities that come from his inner instincts not from others moral codes.
By the way:Another phrase that I found shocking -not in this version,but a romanien one- seem to suggest that the weak shall perish ,but as I read in english it seem more like he said that Christnianity shall perish,Christianity being the preserver of the weak.By weak he meant,those who can't accept life as it is and don't try to make something good out of it,Christianity gave them a hope in another world but in this way they remained weak on this one.
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Oct 16, 2008 Peter rock added it · review of another edition

ETHICS I LEARNED ETHICS AND CIVICS AND FAIR TREATMENT FOR ALL FRED HERE WAS ABAD ASS EVEN BY GERMAN STANDARDS"THAT WHICH DOES NOT KILL ME ONLY MAKES ME STRONGER THAT WHICH KILLS ME MAKES ME STRONGEST OF ALL AND THAT IS THE WILL OF GOD I HAVE THE WILL TO OVER COME IHAVE THE WILL TO SURVIVE I HAVE THE WILL TO FLOURISH BUT ALL THING THAT LIVE EXSPIRE IN THE THE GREAT CONTEST THAT IS LIFE." MORALITY RELIGION COMPASSION PHILOSOPHY HE WAS TRYING TO MELD EASTREN AND WESTREN IDEALS AND THOUGHTS OF THE D...more

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Sep 07, 2008 Tifnie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

Um, WOW!

The anti-christ is really anti-Christianity. Nietzsche talks about how Christianity is the religion of the weak, the low, the botched and the "outcast among men".

He asks the reader, "why labour together, trust one another, or concern one's self about the common welfare, when every man, because he has an "immortal soul" is as good as every other man...that insignificant bigots and the three-fouths insane may assume that the laws of nature are constantly suspended in their behalf."

He furt...more

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Jan 26, 2009 Douglas Wilson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

Green vomit.

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Apr 16, 2013 Gomez Gomez rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of e most common critiques is that the book is not 100% historically accurate, but is that the objective or main aim of the book? The book is a great analysis of the ideas presented, the idea of god, and of gods, the idea of Socrates as an " ugly man" which he does not mean physically, but that all the vices of civilization were in him., the buffon who got taken seriously, etc. Christ the Redeemer vs. the god of wine and enjoyment, the Greek god. The morality derived from these otherworldly...more

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Jan 08, 2013 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

In this book, Nietzsche scrutinizes the Christian religion. He uses his familiar weapons - his logic, sharp wit, and bold satire - to present a case to the reader for growing out of this old belief system. There is no doubt Nietzsche tries to provoke those sympathetic to Christianity and those readers might perhaps find his rhetoric bullying at times. And, I would be quite surprised if a fundamentalist Christian made it past the first few pages. However, this work is not a series of mean potshot...more In this book, Nietzsche scrutinizes the Christian religion. He uses his familiar weapons - his logic, sharp wit, and bold satire - to present a case to the reader for growing out of this old belief system. There is no doubt Nietzsche tries to provoke those sympathetic to Christianity and those readers might perhaps find his rhetoric bullying at times. And, I would be quite surprised if a fundamentalist Christian made it past the first few pages. However, this work is not a series of mean potshots aimed at Christianity or just raw emotional venom that only angry, bitter ex-Christians would enjoy.

This work is intended to analyze the psyche of both the average believer and of the religion as a whole, similar in spirit to Carl Jung's Answer To Job. Nietzsche argues that the image we have of God tends to change over time, adapting to suite our needs and values of the time in which we live. His is intimately familiar with the Bible's old and new testament and compares the people of those time periods and also of his own late 19th century society to show how the view of God's character and interests seems suspiciously well-fitting to the needs and values of the people in each of those societies in each of those time periods.

The subtle point that both an offended Christian reading with clenched teeth or an excited anti-Christian cheering Nietzsche through his roast can easily pass over is the favorable view of Christ himself, discussed in a short few pages toward the middle of the book. The beautifully simple concept is that Christ wasn't introducing a new system to believe in but in his own psyche chose to be and to live as if the old way didn't exist. That sin-conscious, fear-driven state of mind that infected social and religious systems before and after him, would say that either you are separate from God or just simply that you cannot find joy and freedom in this existence, life on the earth being nothing but a vale of tears. Nietzsche argues that for Christ, sin was no longer in the way because it didn't exist any longer and the current existence wasn't wasted because liberation was happening in the present moment of the here and now. This was his liberation, his kingdom of heaven, which Nietzsche compares to the Buddhist view of enlightenment When comparing Christianity to Buddhism he points to the Buddhist practitioner finding fulfillment and liberation in the here-and-now, but the Christian placing all their hope for freedom in the life beyond this wretched current existence.

In past and present societies where the powerful dominate and the weak are oppressed, Christianity was/is oddly both the cry of the downtrodden and the means of keeping them pinned down. The hope "beyond this life" for the downtrodden and the system of do's and don'ts the powerful enforce upon them. This cycle of what Nietzsche refers to as "vengeance" is the primitive worldview he challenges his readers to break away from. He feels that the development of a belief that all fulfillment or punishment occur in the unknown state beyond death introduced a level of fear and superstition that destroyed everything that was beautiful in the high cultures of Greece, Rome and the European Renaissance (destroyed - Nietzsche argues - by Martin Luther).

He isn't arguing for amoral-ism or anarchy (in fact devotes considerable time arguing against both in this and others of his works and letters) but for liberating oneself from the view that you can't know, that you can't find joy in this life or that this life and this body is a terrible thing. To the modern Christian this may only come off as humanism, but readers familiar with Nietzsche would tell you that the view of him as a proponent of consequence-free pleasure seeking is false. He challenges the readers to let go of fear, stop creating God in the image you feel you want or deserve, and want to know truth instead of restricting yourself to the limits imposed on you by a system of faith.(less)

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Dec 22, 2012 Cameron rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nietzsche hates Christianity. I mean really, really hates it. In Nietzsche's eyes, Christianity is nihilistic, decadent, falsifies nature (anti-natural), non-objective thus based in falsehood and against reality, champions the weak thus prevents true strength from rising (assassinating the noble). It promises everything and delivers nothing. Anti-Christ is Nietzsche's ultimate tirade against Christianity, and while I share his sentiment he doesn't present his argument in a very logical way. He f...more Nietzsche hates Christianity. I mean really, really hates it. In Nietzsche's eyes, Christianity is nihilistic, decadent, falsifies nature (anti-natural), non-objective thus based in falsehood and against reality, champions the weak thus prevents true strength from rising (assassinating the noble). It promises everything and delivers nothing. Anti-Christ is Nietzsche's ultimate tirade against Christianity, and while I share his sentiment he doesn't present his argument in a very logical way. He finds the flaws in Christianity but doesn't present his own counter-ideology: if Christian morality is nihilistic and decadent, how can we find a naturalized path?

In addition, I've always been troubled by his assertion that Christian morality (based on Judaic beliefs) supports the weak when Christianity is so clearly hierarchical and has its own nobility that exploits the poor masses, who believe in its aims against their own self-interest for the purposes of salvation in the after-life (and because of fear, both real world and imaginary). If Christianity really keeps down the nobles, then who are its elite? Surely not the poor masses! Sure the basis of Christian morals is Judaic morality (the Jews being "the most remarkable people in world history" who choose being "at any price"), which is the morality of an extremely repressed people, but it morphed into something much more political and palatable for a wider audience, being an evangelical faith.

The section on Buddhism is interesting. Nietzsche dismisses Buddhism but sees it as better than Christianity in that it doesn't deny reality with metaphysical nonsense, and accepts the world as the troubled mess it is, viewing the goal of life as being the avoidance of suffering instead of the avoidance of sin. Buddhism is thus positivistic and doesn't concern itself with good and evil, but remains decadent and nihilistic, thus Nietzsche's dismissal.

All in all though I sympathize with Nietzsche's view much as I question his critical process. Most anything Nietzsche writes is worth reading; if you don't want to dedicate yourself to the 80 or so pages of Anti-Christ, the first half and the very end are the most informative/entertaining.(less)

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Dec 13, 2012 David Cain rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

This is the first of Nietzsche's works that I have read. In fact, I have never formally studied philosophy and have no direct familiarity with the writings of any other major philosopher. With that lack of context, perhaps some of the historical or philosopical nuances of this book were lost on me. I agree with many of Nietzsche's points about the problems with the institution of Christianity, although he does not present these in the most logically convincing manner - too much emotion and not e...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Jonathan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just finished it via the LibriVox audio recording http://librivox.org/the-antichrist-by....

Picked it up as part of my recent set of philosophy books I've been going through. (9 hours into Kant, I decided for a break so picked up him). Enjoyed this quite a bit. A funny part, and I slightly misinterpret it by placing it out of context, is how to create a religion / or why Christianity is the way it is. It reads like a soap opera. "To satisfy the ardor of the woman a beautiful saint must appear on...more

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Jun 07, 2012 Jonah Swan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Nietzsche's most incisive criticism is that Judeo-Christian morals invert the truly noble human virtues (honor, pride, beauty, and power), replacing them with diminutive human qualities such as pity, humility, meekness, and submissiveness. In Nietzsche's opinion, only a slave class would extol the virtues of humility and submissiveness and pity. Only a slave class would resent strength and power and beauty. Nietzsche believes that the values of meekness, humility, and pity constitute a resentmen...more Nietzsche's most incisive criticism is that Judeo-Christian morals invert the truly noble human virtues (honor, pride, beauty, and power), replacing them with diminutive human qualities such as pity, humility, meekness, and submissiveness. In Nietzsche's opinion, only a slave class would extol the virtues of humility and submissiveness and pity. Only a slave class would resent strength and power and beauty. Nietzsche believes that the values of meekness, humility, and pity constitute a resentment on the part of the Israelites--a resentment aimed at turning slave virtues into a morality for all people.

I disagree with Nietzsche while remaining an admirer of his analysis. Nietzsche's ideal is the courageous, powerful and persuasive "ubermensch" (the Superman), but Judeo-Christian virtues serve a broader purpose--to create a Super People.

Judeo Christian virtues, from the ten commandments to the sermon on the mount, serve to transform and tame selfish impulses which, if unchecked, threaten to sever relationships, create division, and disband the greater whole. While Nietzsche is concerned with "the individual," Judeo-Christian morality expresses a collective vision of balancing self-interest in the context of the greater whole. Accordingly, Judeo-Christian values increase cohesion among individuals, enabling humans to scale in numbers and become a super-people, from small families to tribes and from tribes to civilizations and eventually to the modern political state. The power of numbers is the advantage of Christian morality. Increasing the number and the efficacy of connections between people leads to a critical human advantage--the power of scale--which ultimately is a greater social advantage than Nietzsche's Ubermensch.

Early in human history, and not peculiarly to Israel, humans discovered the power of scale; the power of increasing our social unions in number to achieve critical advantages such as a stronger collective defense against enemies, more effective hunting, the division of labor, agriculture and farming, trade, commerce, skilled labor and specialization, education and learning, and the political state.

As effective as Nietzsche is, his critique fails not only in vision and insight, but also in its persuasive power to capture the human heart. Nietzsche never created a compelling mythology to captivate our imagination and Nietzsche's Zarathustra fails as a literary hero in many respects. As a contrast, in Milton's Paradise Lost, Christianity gains a superior model for Nietzsche's Superman archetype, the powerful among us. Milton's Paradise Lost gives Christianity a powerful mythos of two opposing archetypes--Christ and Satan. Christ is the hero who lives for us, lives and dies for our collective advantage and descends below all things to lift us heavenward. Counterpoising Christ is Satan, the antihero, the powerful among us, bellicose and spiteful, who would gain personal advantage at our expense; who would destroy the greater whole to gain personal ascendancy. The Christ archetype shows us a morality that leads to unity and to scale while the Satan archetype creates division.

While incomplete early on, the Judeo-Christian morality articulated the will of a people to unite and to increase the number and power of human connections--the power of scale. That tradition articulates the morality of a super people: What unites us is good; what divides us is evil. Perhaps more importantly, it gives us Christ and Satan--two archetypes that embody those two forces.(less)

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Apr 17, 2012 Jijo Varghese rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nietzsche..the mad man..If there was no Zarathustra I would not even consider him as thinker..great thinker..what a pity!!!
I have to confess that I have agreed with almost all his points against Christianity only because of the fact that it matched my own outlook towards it.
How can a man like Nietzsche..who suffered inferiority complex can create an OVERMAN?? May be only a inferior man can create him..and real man will live as overman. And these inferior imbeciles have always been there as Hitle...more Nietzsche..the mad man..If there was no Zarathustra I would not even consider him as thinker..great thinker..what a pity!!!
I have to confess that I have agreed with almost all his points against Christianity only because of the fact that it matched my own outlook towards it.
How can a man like Nietzsche..who suffered inferiority complex can create an OVERMAN?? May be only a inferior man can create him..and real man will live as overman. And these inferior imbeciles have always been there as Hitler or as any tyrant whom oppressed a whole nation. And his almost in his life time he was projecting this overman but he never had any qualities of him.
Nietzsche disagrees almost all things which is just other side of existence..love..trust..empathy..This will be the way of an inferior man who wants to rule..have thirsty for power and he says this as basic requisite for being a real human. He agrees with Manu(Author of Law's of Manu or Manusmirithi)..the real corrupter of Indian mind..This Manu is responsible for entire division of India in name of Caste..and religion..He says Inequality is the right of real existence..if everyone is unique then why there should be a comparison..why there should be equality or inequality???What matters if you are black or white?? what matters if you are an Indian or American?? But entire world is doing all comparisons..Comparison can come out of a mind which cannot love existence as it is..
And an Overman..as I conceive a flowered own as Buddha calls..don't compare..he won't want to rule..but his life will be full of love..compassion..awareness..He will be the one who accepts life as it is..
Nietzsche compares anarchism with Christianity..but he forgets one thing that Christianity always relays on Jesus as savior..an individual can do nothing to be saved..or to be an Overman..But anarchism can happen when entire world has taken step towards this overman..Anarchists like Tolstoy have always missed the point when boundaries disappear what will be the binding force..of course it will be of love and compassion..but for it humanity has to flower..or to be more like an Overman..For anarchism first step should be Capitalism..(dont get offended by word..I mean Capitalism as state of free individual ship..) or Communism I can say but with the real spirit( what communism lacks today is that spirit of free mind)..Second is Overman as Nietzsche says..but his Overman has nothing to do with mine..and final anarchism..and I could not get his point how he could compare with anarchism and Christianity or any so called organized religions because these religions repress that overman..
Of course a mediocre mind like Nietzsche can say against anarchism..and I pity him for that..Antichrist is a must read if you just avoid authors view of anarchism and Overman.
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Oct 02, 2011 Erik Moore rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: topshelf

While Nietzsche did have his own foibles, it is hard not to admire him for his frankness and candor about the obvious much in the same way that he states, "One cannot read the New Testament without acquiring admiration for whatever it abuses." We live in the reverberation of that ringing bell and the honesty it affords. I read "The Republican War on Science" a few years ago. And Nietzche now from an earlier era says it more succinctly and, while less supported by research, with the cause more ov...more

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Dec 28, 2011 psyhead rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Incredibly tiring repeatability (this book could really be the half of what is is) interspersed with some flares of what could be characterised as special/interesting thoughts/ideas, the ones that could really make you ponder and doubt the religious (and not only of that kind) status quos (like when he talks about the law and such, i think)
In every one of his tries to let us "breathe" though, by pointing out the oxymorons, he messes up in each and every one of them; drifted by his hatred against...more

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May 06, 2010 Katsumi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

Unlike many other people who have reviewed this book, I do not believe that Nietzsche was an idiot. It is extremely obvious in The Antichrist, that Nietzsche was strongly right-wing, and therefore had a strongly right-wing outlook on life. This is NOT a book for someone who is NOT right-wing themself, and also CLOSED-MINDED TOWARD OTHER WAYS OF THINKING.
Its true, Nietzsche's beliefs are not democratic. He did not believe that all men were created equal. He believed that strength was good, that...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Aaron Powell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, self-help-religious

"Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity."

If that pissed you off, then this book IS NOT for you. However, if it has sparked your curiosity-if you have always been a bit suspicious about the fact that all religion was created by man and not God-this book IS for you. Nietzsche suggests that religion (specifically Christianity) promotes ignorance and arrogance, that "faith vetoes science" while the intellectual mind is frowned upon, and that the creators of our religiou...more

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Aug 08, 2012 David Buhler rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, religion

The Antichrist by Neitzsche (1844-1900) was often difficult to read, it being mostly a philippic against Christianity which often becomes an absolutely hostile tirade. Somewhere in the center of the book, however, I found Neitzsche defending Jesus against all of Christianity by claiming that the “dumb” disciples, Paul the apostle, and Luther the reformer had all perverted his message - which was nothing other than his life itself as he lived it, an example to be followed.

A few of the milder qu...more

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Jul 31, 2009 Bob Vogel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Is more of a screed than anything, especially where he his refuting (mocking, really), point by point select quotations from the gospels. You'll be hard pressed to find a more vitriolic and hateful attack on the New Testament anywhere ... "petty bigots" ... "impudent windbag" ... the examples drip off of every page. "The vampirism of pale, subteranean leeches!" That aside, there are some interesting tidbits here, such as his attack on christianity as nihilism (wasn't Nietzsche supposed to be the...more

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Jun 17, 2012 Tania ChatdiMuse rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Leí este libro en español así que en este idioma escribiré mi revisión. Le di tres estrellas porque considerando que crecí en un hogar Cristiano y conociendo mucho la religión no me convenció en repleta totalidad. Creo que tiende a vociferar extraviándose de concentración en argumentos filosóficos. Crea puntos muy fuertes pero se concentra mas en atacar el puro razonamiento, en la fuerza intelectual y no tanto en el corazón y espíritu de seres humanos que se es necesario considerar en un tema de...more
Leí este libro en español así que en este idioma escribiré mi revisión. Le di tres estrellas porque considerando que crecí en un hogar Cristiano y conociendo mucho la religión no me convenció en repleta totalidad. Creo que tiende a vociferar extraviándose de concentración en argumentos filosóficos. Crea puntos muy fuertes pero se concentra mas en atacar el puro razonamiento, en la fuerza intelectual y no tanto en el corazón y espíritu de seres humanos que se es necesario considerar en un tema de religión. Para mi el mensaje de amor es el punto de concentración de la Cristianidad, esto es poniendo política e acontecimientos de la historia distorcionantes a un lado, y la verdad es que el amor debilita. El anti-realismo en cuestión de la ciencia e psicología de la religión Cristiana, son sus argumentos mas fuertes. Pero el combate es contra una fe sobrenatural y espiritual, algo metafísico que la mente humana no puede descifrar en manera absoluta, observando de la perspectiva de un creyente. Tener fe es forzánte en ocasiones a ir contra naturalezas fisicas y razonamientos logicos, algo que Nietzsche mira como debilidad, ignorancia y no lo soporta. Nietzsche mira la practica de Cristianidad como un envenenador de la cultura occidental y la perversión de las palabras de Jesús, atacando mas que nada sus malas interpretaciones en la historia que en lo que aprendemos lamentablemente la mayoría es muy cierto. Yo recomendaría este libro a un Cristiano como a un ateo. Nietzsche desafía al lector a cuestionar sus propias convicciones morales y ver si ellos no son tan "esclavos" como los fieles de los que se burlan, a menudo con cruel hipocresía. Es importante considerar que cuando Nietzsche escribió este libro estaba al punto de un derrame cerebral, lo escribió rápido e apasionadamente y aun así su estilo de prosa y aforismos son dignos de admiración. Aunque disfrute mas su trabajo en el viajero y su sombra recomiendo a todo estudiador de religión este libro, creo que mientras mas conocimiento mas fuerza tiene uno y el acto de descubrir y considerar puntos en contra de convicciones es el trabajo de un buen pensador. Frederich Nietzsche es un gran maestro y un cerebro admirable, no para de ser uno de mis filósofos preferidos, y una de mis importantes influencias psicológicas, sin cuestión.(less)

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Aug 25, 2011 Hadrian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: germany, philosophy, nonfiction, religion-theology-mythology

An intense and damning work - one not to be caught reading in public where I live.

A fearsome, angry, snarl against Christianity, as it was at the time. Rails and rambles against the decadence and nihilism of Christianity, of weakness, of parasitism, of the promise of eternal life, the corruption of the Church and priesthood, and of the evils justified by religion. It is a means for which the weak can resent and dominate or refuse the strong, or the ways of the world, as he says.

As for Jesus? A m...more

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Dec 31, 2009 Mina Villalobos rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religion, non-fiction, philosophy

As an atheist, I wish I had liked this better but it's too full of crazy name-calling and smug self congratulating and angry bellowing, leaving about only 1/3 of the book to explain his ideas. Which I can't say are super crazy, I mean, when it boils down to it, he says Catholicism is the anti-christ because it never understood Jesus's real message, which was to live naturally and in a sort of live-and-let-live(or die) way, and instead perverted the message and turned it into shenanigans about he...more

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Feb 23, 2013 Alex Kaye rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religious, spiritual-psychology, spirituality, trauma, trauma-psychology, victory

Without a doubt Nietzsche's masterpiece. I am appalled by the rheortric of some the religious undertone written about Nietzsche and his undoubtable masterpiece. He's a man of thought and inspiration. I agree with another reviewer of his work " am shocked at what some of the reviewers are writing here...that he was a "madman" (all great men went mad seeing you small men doing small things!)...that he was responsible for fascism of Hitler (If a pygmy like Hitler misuses Nietzsche then whose fault...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Jaka Kun rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Creo que aproveché mucho más esta segunda lectura y vino en un momento de mi vida en el que mis ideas están mucho más cimentadas y sólidas en mi cabeza.

Definitivamente es un libro que todo cristiano-católico debería leer, pero con la mente abierta dispuesta a un debate interno sano y constructivo. Es obvio que un libro -o una película o una persona- no derrumba la fe de nadie, es uno solo quien deja que sus dudas le atormenten. O salven.

Estoy de acuerdo con su planteamiento fundamental, y con la...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Nancy Ibrahim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

أي شيء يعد حسنا ؟ كل ما ينمي الشعور بالقوة ، و بإرادة القوة ، و القوة نفسها داخل الإنسان . أي شيء يعد سيئا ؟ كل ما يتأتى عن الضعف .. ما هي السعادة ؟ الاحساس بأن القوة في تنام ، و أن هناك مقاومة يتم التغلب عليها .ليس الرضا بل مزيدا من القوة ، ولا السلم في كل الأحوال بل الحرب ، لا الفضيلة بل البسالة .

الحياة نفسها تعني بالنسبة لي غريزة النمو و الديمومة و تراكم الطاقات ، غريزة القوة . و حيثما كان هناك افتقار الى ارادة القوة يكون هناك تدهور.

التواضع و التبتل و العفة و الفاقة و بكلمة واحدة القداسة لم...more أي شيء يعد حسنا ؟ كل ما ينمي الشعور بالقوة ، و بإرادة القوة ، و القوة نفسها داخل الإنسان . أي شيء يعد سيئا ؟ كل ما يتأتى عن الضعف .. ما هي السعادة ؟ الاحساس بأن القوة في تنام ، و أن هناك مقاومة يتم التغلب عليها .ليس الرضا بل مزيدا من القوة ، ولا السلم في كل الأحوال بل الحرب ، لا الفضيلة بل البسالة .

الحياة نفسها تعني بالنسبة لي غريزة النمو و الديمومة و تراكم الطاقات ، غريزة القوة . و حيثما كان هناك افتقار الى ارادة القوة يكون هناك تدهور.

التواضع و التبتل و العفة و الفاقة و بكلمة واحدة القداسة لم تسبب الى حد الآن مضارا للحياة أكثر بكثير مما فعل أي نوع من الفظاعات و الرذائل .. الروح المحض هي محض كذب .. و طالما ظل القس ذلك الذي يتخذ من نفي الحياة و الافتراء على الحياة و تسميمها مهنة يعتبر نوعا أرقى من البشرية ، فإنه لن يكون هناك جواب على سؤال : ما هي الحقيقة ؟

كل فضيلة طبيعية و كل مؤسسة طبيعية (الدولة ، و القضاء و الزواج و العناية بالفقراء و المرضى ) و كل ضرورة تحددها غريزة الحياة ، ستجعل منه طفيلية القس شيئا عديم القيمةاو ذا قيمة سلبية ، و يحتاج الى تقرير مصادقة بعدية و تكون هناك حاجة اذن الى قوة مانحة للقيمة ، تنفي الطبيعة و عندها و بذلك فقط تخلق قيمة .. يجرد القس الطبيعة من القيمة و يسحب عنها قداستها : بهذا الثمن فقط يتسنى له أن يكون موجودا .

إن الايمان بشكل ملزم هو الفيتو الذي يرفع ضد العلم .

لقد ابتدع مفهوم الذنب و العقاب و كل النظام الأخلاقي ضدا للعلم ، ضد انعتاق الإنسان من سلطة القس .. لا ينبغي للإنسان أن يرى خارجا بل أن يرى داخل نفسه ، ولا ينبغي له أن ينظر الى الأشياء كطالب معرفة بذكاء و فطنة و حذر بل لا ينبغي له أن يرى أصلا : عليه أن يتألم .. و عليه أن يظل يتألم على نحو يجعله دائم الحاجة الى القس

الإيمان لا يحول جبالا بل يضع جبالا حيث لا وجود لجبال.

الدم أسوأ شاهد على الحقيقة ، فالدم يسمم أنقى التعاليم و يحولها الى جنون و حقد يعمران القلوب .

رذيلة هو كل نوع من مناقضة الطبيعة .. (less)

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Aug 06, 2011 Joel Archer added it · review of another edition

Passionately written. In this work, Nietzsche vehemently unleashes his hatred towards Christianity.

"I call Christianity the one great curse, the one great intrinsic depravity, the one great instinct of revenge, for which no means are venomous enough, or secret, subterranean and small enough,--I call it the one immortal blemish upon the human race."

I think the book was not (or perhaps not meant to be) a thorough critique since (in my opinion) it lacked precise argumentation and fair evaluation of...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Bryce Maxwell rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great points made.
unorthodox, entertaining writing style...

His excitable writing rapidly fluctuating between rational, logical reason to unstable emotional ranting is both the worst enemy and greatest ally of this piece.

For me, that inconsistency is a pitfall.

How can one so emotionally driven even begin to occupy an objective, scientific seat when formulating a critique?

I admire and absolutely love that Nietzsche expressed his emotions so openly. I believe scientists and philosophers today shoul...more

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May 31, 2013 Shradhanjali Lama rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, reviewed

I Give this one a 5 star based not merely on his merits of writing but because of his radical ideas. I will not, however, review the book. I am just flabbergasted at his ideas and how his psyche worked. I loved this book not just because I am an atheist but because some of the points that he makes are actually true. Oh! and the dry sarcasm that surfaces every now and then were as wonderful as his ideas.

"I dont know either the way out or the way in; I am whatever doesn't know the way out or in

...more

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About Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900) was a German philosopher of the late 19th century who challenged the foundations of Christianity and traditional morality. He was interested in the enhancement of individual and cultural health, and believed in life, creativity, power, and the realities of the world we live in, rather than those situated in a world beyond. Central to his philosophy is the id...more

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The Gay Science: with a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs

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Quotes from The Anti-Christ

“One must not let oneself be misled: they say 'Judge not!' but they send to Hell everything that stands in their way.” — 61 people liked it

“The most spiritual men, as the strongest, find their happiness where others would find their destruction: in the labyrinth, in hardness against themselves and others, in experiments. Their joy is self-conquest: asceticism becomes in them nature, need, and instinct. Difficult tasks are a privilege to them; to play with burdens that crush others, a recreation. Knowledge-a form of asceticism. They are the most venerable kind of man: that does not preclude their being the most cheerful and the kindliest. ” — 55 people liked it

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