"God is dead" (German: "Gott ist tot" (help· info); also known as the death of God) is a widely-quoted and sometimes misconstrued statement by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It first appears in The Gay Science (Die fröhliche Wissenschaft), section 108 (New Struggles), in section 125 (The Madman), and for a third time in section 343 (The Meaning of our Cheerfulness). It is also found in Nietzsche's classic work Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Also sprach Zarathustra), which is most responsible for popularizing the phrase. The idea is stated by "The Madman" as follows: God is Dead (2007) is the debut novel of American author Ron Currie Jr. ... Image File history File links De-Gott_ist_tot. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) (IPA: ) was a nineteenth-century German philosopher. ... The Gay Science [German: Die fröhliche Wissenschaft (la gaya scienza)], is a book written by Friedrich Nietzsche, first published in 1882 and followed by a second edition, which was published after the completion of Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil, in 1887. ... “Also sprach Zarathustra” redirects here. ...

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? For other uses, see Atonement (disambiguation). ...

– Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 125, tr. Walter Kaufmann Walter Arnold Kaufmann (July 1, 1921 - September 4, 1980) was a 20th-century Jewish German philosopher, scholar, and poet. ...

Explanation

"God is dead" is not meant literally, as in "God is now physically dead"; rather, it is Nietzsche's way of saying that the idea of God is no longer capable of acting as a source of any moral code or teleology. Nietzsche recognizes the crisis which the death of God represents for existing moral considerations, because "When one gives up the Christian faith, one pulls the right to Christian morality out from under one's feet. This morality is by no means self-evident.... By breaking one main concept out of Christianity, the faith in God, one breaks the whole: nothing necessary remains in one's hands."^[1] This is why in "The Madman", the madman addresses the atheists primarily — the problem is to retain any system of values in the absence of a divine order. (He also goes to the churches to point out the death of God is an oft-forgotten part of the Christian creed, that Holy Saturday comes between the cross and Easter, that the experience of God's absence is essential to Christian life.) Look up literal, literally in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Morality (from the Latin manner, character, proper behavior) has three principal meanings. ... Teleology (Greek: telos: end, purpose) is the philosophical study of design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in nature or human creations. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is...

The death of God is a way of saying that humans are no longer able to believe in any such cosmic order since they themselves no longer recognize it. The death of God will lead, Nietzsche says, not only to the rejection of a belief of cosmic or physical order but also to a rejection of absolute values themselves — to the rejection of belief in an objective and universal moral law, binding upon all individuals. In this manner, the loss of an absolute basis for morality leads to nihilism. This nihilism is what Nietzsche worked to find a solution for by re-evaluating the foundations of human values. This meant, to Nietzsche, looking for foundations that went deeper than the Christian values beyond which he felt most Christians refuse to look. For other uses of objectivity, see objectivity (disambiguation). ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Morality (from the Latin manner, character, proper behavior) has three principal meanings. ... This article is about the philosophical position. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is...

Nietzsche believed that the majority of people did not recognize (or refused to acknowledge) this death out of the deepest-seated fear or angst. Therefore, when the death did begin to become widely acknowledged, people would despair and nihilism would become rampant, as well as the relativistic belief that human will is a law unto itself—anything goes and all is permitted. This is partly why Nietzsche saw Christianity as nihilistic. To Nietzsche, nihilism is the consequence of any idealistic philosophical system, because all idealisms suffer from the same weakness as Christian morality—that there is no "foundation" to build on. He therefore describes himself as "a 'subterranean man' at work, one who tunnels and mines and undermines."^[2] For other uses, see Angst (disambiguation). ... In philosophy, moral relativism is the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect objective and/or universal moral truths, but instead make claims relative to social, cultural, historical or personal circumstances. ...

Nietzsche and Heidegger

Martin Heidegger understood this part of Nietzsche's philosophy by looking at it as death of metaphysics. In his view, Nietzsche's words can only be understood as referring not to a particular theological or anthropological view but rather to the end of philosophy itself. Philosophy has, in Heidegger's words, reached its maximum potential as metaphysics and Nietzsche's words warn us of its demise and that of any metaphysical world view. If metaphysics is dead that is, Heidegger warns, because from its inception that was its fate.^[3] Martin Heidegger (September 26, 1889 – May 26, 1976) (IPA ) was a highly influential German philosopher. ... Plato (Left) and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of reality, being, and the world. ...

New possibilities

Nietzsche believed there could be positive possibilities for humans without God. Relinquishing the belief in God opens the way for human creative abilities to fully develop. The Christian God, with his arbitrary commands and prohibitions, would no longer stand in the way, so human beings might stop turning their eyes toward a supernatural realm and begin to acknowledge the value of this world. The recognition that "God is dead" would be like a blank canvas. It is a freedom to become something new, different, creative — a freedom to be something without being forced to accept the baggage of the past.

Nietzsche uses the metaphor of an open sea, which can be both exhilarating and terrifying. The people who eventually learn to create their lives anew will represent a new stage in human existence, the Übermensch —i.e. the personal archetype who, through the conquest of their own nihilism, themselves become a mythical hero. The 'death of God' is the motivation for Nietzsche's last (uncompleted) philosophical project, the 'revaluation of all values'. This article is about metaphor in literature and rhetoric. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... For other uses, see Archetype (disambiguation). ...

Nietzsche's voice

Although Nietzsche puts the statement "God is Dead" into the mouth of a "madman" in The Gay Science, he also uses the phrase in his own voice in sections 108 and 343 of the same book. In the madman's passage, the man is described as running through a marketplace shouting, "I seek God! I seek God!" He arouses some amusement; no one takes him seriously. Maybe he took an ocean voyage? Got lost like a little child? Maybe he's afraid of us (non-believers) and is hiding?-- much laughter. Frustrated, the madman smashes his lantern on the ground, crying out that "God is dead, and we have killed him, you and I!" "But I have come too soon," he immediately realizes, as his detractors of a minute before stare in astonishment: people cannot yet see that they have killed God. He goes on to say:

This prodigious event is still on its way, still wandering; it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time, the light of the stars requires time, deeds, though done, still require time to be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than the most distant stars—and yet they have done it themselves.

—trans. Walter Kaufmann, The Gay Science, sect. 125

Earlier in the book (section 108), Nietzsche wrote "God is Dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown. And we—we still have to vanquish his shadow, too." The protagonist in Thus Spoke Zarathustra also speaks the words, commenting to himself after visiting a hermit who, every day, sings songs and lives to glorify his god: “Also sprach Zarathustra” redirects here. ...

'And what is the saint doing in the forest?' asked Zarathustra. The saint answered: 'I make songs and sing them; and when I make songs, I laugh, cry, and hum: thus do I praise God. With singing, crying, laughing, and humming do I praise the god who is my god. But what do you bring us as a gift?' When Zarathustra had heard these words he bade the saint farewell and said: 'What could I have to give you? But let me go quickly lest I take something from you!' And thus they separated, the old one and the man, laughing as two boys laugh.

But when Zarathustra was alone he spoke thus to his heart: 'Could it be possible? This old saint in the forest has not yet heard anything of this, that God is dead!' For other uses, see Saint (disambiguation). ...

—trans. Walter Kaufmann, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Prologue, sect. 2.

What is more, Zarathustra later refers, not only to the death of God, but that 'Dead are all the Gods'. It is not just one morality that has died, but all of them, to be replaced by the life of the übermensch, the new man:

'DEAD ARE ALL THE GODS: NOW DO WE DESIRE THE SUPERMAN TO LIVE.'

—trans. Thomas Common, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Part I, Section XXII,3

Death of God theological movement

The cover of Time magazine April 8, 1966 and the accompanying article concerned a movement in American theology that arose in the 1960s known as the "death of God". The death of God movement is sometimes technically referred to as "theothanatology" (In Greek, Theos means God and Thanatos means death.) April 8 is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Theos may refer to: Theos Is a medical electronics company with revolutionary technology focusing on remote patient monitoring . ... In Greek mythology, Thanatos (in Ancient Greek, θάνατος – Death) was the Daimon personification of Death and Mortality. ...

The main protagonists of this theology included the Christian theologians Gabriel Vahanian, Paul van Buren, William Hamilton and Thomas J. J. Altizer, and the Jewish rabbi Richard Rubenstein. Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... Gabriel Vahanian (born 1927) is a theologian who is most remembered for his pioneering work in the theology of the death of God. ... Thomas Jonathan Jackson Altizer (born September 28, 1927) is a radical theologian who postulated in the early 1960s the death of God. // Altizer was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and attended St. ... Richard Rubenstein is the author and co-author of several books. ...

In 1961 Vahanian's book The Death of God was published. Vahanian argued that modern secular culture had lost all sense of the sacred, lacking any sacramental meaning, no transcendental purpose or sense of providence. He concluded that for the modern mind "God is dead", but he did not mean that God did not exist. In Vahanian's vision a transformed post-Christian and post-modern culture was needed to create a renewed experience of deity. Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Post Christian is a term used to describe a person or a society whose foundational philosophy is believed to have originated within Christianity, but has developed beyond the confines of Christianity to encompass a wider worldview. ...

Both Van Buren and Hamilton agreed that the concept of transcendence had lost any meaningful place in modern thought. According to the norms of contemporary modern thought, God is dead. In responding to this collapse in transcendence Van Buren and Hamilton offered secular people the option of Jesus as the model human who acted in love. The encounter with the Christ of faith would be open in a church-community.

Altizer offered a radical theology of the death of God that drew upon William Blake, Hegelian thought and Nietzschean ideas. He conceived of theology as a form of poetry in which the immanence (presence) of God could be encountered in faith communities. However, he no longer accepted the possibility of affirming belief in a transcendent God. Altizer concluded that God had incarnated in Christ and imparted his immanent spirit which remained in the world even though Jesus was dead (contrary to New Testament writings like 1 Peter 1:2). William Blake (November 28, 1757 – August 12, 1827) was an English poet, visionary, painter, and printmaker. ... Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (August 27, 1770 - November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Württemberg, in present-day southwest Germany. ... This article is about the art form. ... Immanence, derived from the Latin in manere to remain within, refers to philosophical and metaphysical theories of the divine as existing and acting within the mind or the world. ... Transcendental in philosophical contexts In philosophy, transcendental experiences are experiences of an exclusively human nature that are other-worldly or beyond the human realm of understanding. ... This page is about the title, office or what is known in Christian theology as the Divine Person. ... Immanence, derived from the Latin in manere to remain within, refers to philosophical and metaphysical theories of the divine as existing and acting within the mind or the world. ... The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus (breath). // The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus, meaning breath (compare spiritus asper), but also soul, courage, vigor, ultimately from a PIE root *(s)peis- (to blow). In the Vulgate, the Latin word translates Greek (πνευμα), pneuma (Hebrew (רוח) ruah), as... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... This article is about the Christian scriptures. ... (Redirected from 1 Peter) In Christianity, the First Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament. ...

Unlike Nietzsche, Altizer believed that God truly died. He is considered to be the leading exponent of the Death of God movement.

Rubenstein represented that radical edge of Jewish thought working through the impact of the Holocaust. In a technical sense he maintained, based on the Kabbalah, that God had "died" in creating the world. However, for modern Jewish culture he argued that the death of God occurred in Auschwitz. In Rubenstein's work, it was no longer possible to believe in the God of the Abrahamic covenant. He felt that the only possibility left for Jews was to become pagans or to create their own meaning. This article is about traditional Jewish Kabbalah. ... Auschwitz, in English, commonly refers to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex built near the town of Oświęcim, by Nazi Germany during World War II. Rarely, it may refer to the Polish town of Oświęcim (called by the Germans Auschwitz) itself. ... Pagan and heathen redirect here. ...

Notable references in popular culture

• The bridge of Elton John's 1972 song "Levon" with lyrics by Bernie Taupin contains the line "The New York Times said God is dead".
• In an episode of The Sopranos the main character's son, Anthony Soprano, Jr., who is a Nietzsche follower, states that "God is dead" angering his conservative catholic father.
• John Proctor recites "God Is Dead" towards the end of the play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller.
• Alluded to by Lawrence Ferlinghetti in the poem, "Sometime During Eternity"
• An episode of The Kids in the Hall features a sketch imitating a 1950s educational film centering around the phrase, first stated by Nietzschean philosophers and denied by skeptics, until it is finally proved that the unusually diminutive God is indeed dead.
• There are t-shirts with the following text:" "God is dead" - Nietzsche (beneath the first sentence) "Nietzsche is dead" - God". Some variations carry the third line," "Nietzsche is God" - Foucault.", as a reference to modern philosopher Michel Foucault.
• In the episode of the television series Andromeda: Una Salus Victus ("One Salvation of the Victorious"). The character Tyr Anasazi, a Nietzschean, after killing a large number of people says to Dylan Hunt jokingly: "We could let God sort them out, but someone told me he was dead." Hunt explains the reference to the philosopher's belief by remarking "That Nietzsche! What a comedian!"

Sir Elton Hercules[1] John CBE[2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is a five-time Grammy and one-time Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. ... Levon is a popular 1871 armenian king As usual with Taupin, the turks comitted a genocide in 1915 when levon was king of armenia they killed many many people but we got control of our land again by not giving up. ... Bernie Taupin (born May 22, 1950) is an English lyricist most famous for his collaboration with Elton John. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... This article is about the television series. ... Anthony John Soprano, Jr. ... For other uses, see Crucible (disambiguation). ... Arthur Bob Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright and essayist. ... Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born Lawrence Ferling[1] on March 24, 1919) is an American poet who is known as the co-owner of the City Lights Bookstore and publishing house, which published early literary works of the Beats, including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. ... For the Chicago rap group see Kidz in the Hall. ... An educational film is a film or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. ... Philosophical scepticism (UK spelling, scepticism) is both a philosophical school of thought and a method that crosses disciplines and cultures. ... Michel Foucault (pronounced ) (October 15, 1926 – June 25, 1984) was a French philosopher, historian and sociologist. ... Gene Roddenberrys Andromeda is an American science fiction television series, based on unused material by Gene Roddenberry developed by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and produced posthumously by his widow, Majel Roddenberry. ... Tyr Anasazi out of Victoria by Barbarossa is a Nietzschean character in the television series Gene Roddenberrys Andromeda, played by actor Keith Hamilton Cobb. ... This article is about the Nietzschean race in the television series Andromeda. ... Kevin Sorbo as Dylan Hunt in Andromeda Dylan Hunt is the name of two fictional characters created for television by Gene Roddenberry. ... Friedrich Nietzsche, 1882 Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 - August 25, 1900) was a highly influential German philosopher. ...

See also

• Postmodern Christianity
• Deconstruction-and-religion

Postmodern Christianity is an understanding of Christianity that is closely associated with the body of writings known as postmodern philosophy. ... Jacques Derrida Deconstruction-and-religion -- also known as weak theology and religion without religion -- is a nontheistic mode of thought that proceeds from a theological and deconstructive framework. ...

Further reading

• Heidegger, Martin. Nietzsches Wort 'Gott ist tot (1943) translated as The Word of Nietzsche: 'God Is Dead', in Holzwege, edited and translated by Julian Young and Kenneth Haynes, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
• Kaufmann, Walter. Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1974
• Roberts, Tyler T. Contesting Spirit: Nietzsche, Affirmation, Religion Princeton University Press, 1998

Martin Heidegger (September 26, 1889 – May 26, 1976) (IPA ) was a highly influential German philosopher. ... Walter Arnold Kaufmann (July 1, 1921 - September 4, 1980) was a 20th-century Jewish German philosopher, scholar, and poet. ...

Death of God theology

• Thomas J. J. Altizer, The Gospel of Christian Atheism (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966).
• Thomas J. J. Altizer and William Hamilton, Radical Theology and the Death of God (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1966).
• Bernard Murchland, ed., The Meaning of the Death of God (New York: Random House, 1967).
• Gabriel Vahanian, The Death of God (New York: George Braziller, 1961).

Thomas Jonathan Jackson Altizer (born September 28, 1927) is a radical theologian who postulated in the early 1960s the death of God. // Altizer was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and attended St. ... Gabriel Vahanian (born 1927) is a theologian who is most remembered for his pioneering work in the theology of the death of God. ...

References

The Twilight of the Idols (Götzen-Dämmerung) is a book by Friedrich Nietzsche, written in 1888, and published in 1889. ...

External links

• John M. Frame, "Death of God Theology"

v • d • e Friedrich Nietzsche
Major works	The Birth of Tragedy · Human, All Too Human · The Gay Science · Thus Spoke Zarathustra · Beyond Good and Evil · On the Genealogy of Morality · The Case of Wagner · Twilight of the Idols · The Antichrist · Ecce Homo · Nietzsche contra Wagner
Philosophy	Apollonian and Dionysian · Eternal return · God is dead · Herd instinct · Last Man · Master-slave morality · Nietzschean affirmation · Perspectivism · Ressentiment · Transvaluation of values · Tschandala · Übermensch · The Will to Power
Related	Works by Nietzsche · Works about Nietzsche · Comparison with Kierkegaard · Influence and reception of Nietzsche · Nietzsche-Archiv · Nietzsche Music Project