God is dead

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"God is dead" (German: "Gott ist tot") is a widely quoted statement by Friedrich Nietzsche. It first appears in The Gay Science, 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 Also sprach Zarathustra, which is most responsible for popularizing the phrase. The idea is stated by 'The Madman' as follows:

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, murderers of all murderers, console ourselves? That which was the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet possessed has bled to death under our knives. Who will wipe this blood off us? With what water could we purify ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we need to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods simply to be worthy of it?

— Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 125, tr. Walter Kaufmann  

[edit] 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 recognises 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 not believers, but atheists — the problem is to retain any system of values in the absence of a divine order.

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 most Christians refuse to look beyond.

Nietzsche believed that the majority of men 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]

[edit] New possibilities

Nietzsche believed there could be positive possibilities for humans without God. Relinquishing the belief in God opens the way for human's 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. The 'death of God' is the motivation for Nietzsche's last (uncompleted) philosophical project, the 'revaluation of all values'.

[edit] Nietzsche's voice

Although Nietzsche put 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 running through a marketplace shouting, "God is dead! God remains dead!" He arouses some amusement; no one takes him seriously. Frustrated, the madman smashes his lantern on the ground, crying out that he has come too soon: 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:

'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 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!'

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

Coming across in a hymn of Martin Luther what Hegel described as the cruel words, the harsh utterance, namely, God is dead, the latter was perhaps the first great philosopher to develop the theme of God's death according to whom, to one form of experience God is dead. Commenting on Kant's first Critique, Heinrich Heine spoke of a dying God. Heine influenced Nietzsche. Since Heine and Nietzsche the phrase Death of God became popular. (K Satchidananda Murty, The Realm of Between, IIAS,1973)

[edit] Death of God Movement (Theology)

A Time Magazine cover story (April 8, 1966) on religion in America asked "Is God Dead?" It would become one of Time's most controversial issues.

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".

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.

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.

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. For Altizer, God had incarnated in Christ and imparted his immanent spirit that remains in the world even though Jesus died.

Unlike Nietzsche, Altizer believed that god truly died. He is considered to be the leading exponet 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.

[edit] References in popular culture

[edit] Music

• "Dio è morto" (God is dead, in Italian) is the title of a famous Italian song written by songwriter Francesco Guccini which became a hit for the Italian band Nomadi in 1965
• The bridge of Elton John's 1972 song "Levon" with lyrics by Bernie Taupin contains "The New York Times said God is dead".
• "God is Dead" is a song by the thrash metal band Carnivore on their 1985 eponymous first album. The lyrical themes in not just the song, but also the whole album deal with nihilism, Armageddon, and mankind's savage nature contrasted with the civilizing aspects of religion – themes inspired by Nietzsche.
• "God is Dead" is the first track on the "Numb" album, published in 1988 by Canadian industrial band Numb. The song talks about some kind of new weird religion with "Manson Messiah", "Leather nuns", "Motor angel", "Spreading disease", "Prophets for profit", "Preaching in hardcore", and so on. The line "God is dead" itself is the chorus of the song.
• "God is dead, and no one cares" is the first part of the chorus in a Nine Inch Nails song, "Heresy", from his 1994 breakthrough concept album The Downward Spiral. The album, as a whole, is replete with Nietzschean concepts. It describes the character’s self-imposed descent into nihilism in an attempt to destroy his own religious values. The album culminates in the character’s suicide due to the self-destructive nature of his endeavor.
• On the 1995 album Amok by the heavy metal band Sentenced, the song "New Age Messiah" contains the line "god is dead, god is dead - long live the Nature". The song chronicles the "descent" of mankind from the divine and immaterial towards the earthen and real.
• "If this grand panorama before me is what you call God... Then God is not dead" from the 1999 song "In The Shadow of Our Pale Companion" by the doom/folk metal band Agalloch. The song deals with the worship of nature in contrast to the alienation and destruction that modern society brings.
• Apocalyptic hardcore band Buried Inside writes "the edifice outlives the architect. god is dead. bacon is dead. darwin is dead. and the landlords of romance: smith is dead. arkwright is dead. taylor is dead..." in their song "Progress is Dead & Death Is Progress."
• DIY hardcore band Take Down Your Art uses the repeated line "God Is Dead" in their song "Reversal," the second in a four-song ep entitled "Vox Populi Capax Infiniti." The record traces the inverse relationship between the welfare of God and that of mankind, and then repeats the theme replacing God with capitalism to draw a parallel. "Reversal" features a variety of Nietzsche references and plays the part of "as God suffers humanity prospers" for the purposes of the record's theme.
• The popular rock band Senses Fail mentions they would like to die "Like god on the cover of time" in one of their songs.
• "I want a God who stays dead ... not plays dead" is the first line of the chorus to Nietzsche by The Dandy Warhols.
• "God is Dead" is also an instrumental song by Midtown on their 2004 album Forget What You Know
• The Manic Street Preachers' 2004 song "1985" contains the chorus line "So God is dead, like Nietzsche said/Superstition is all we have left". A later refrain changes the line to refer to something a friend had likely said to the lyricist in 1985.
• "Gott ist tot (God is dead!)" is the title of a song by the darkwave German band Das Ich.
• "Gott ist tot!" phrase used in the songs "Mitten ins Herz" and "Der neue Gott" by the German group OOMPH!.
• "Gott ist Tot" is also a song in the first act of the Jim Steinman musical Tanz der Vampire.
• "God Isn't Dead?" is the title of a song by Extreme, featured in the album III Sides To Every Story.
• "God is Dead" can also be seen on the computer monitor of Morlock the Elf in the independent short film "A Merry Christmassacre."
• "God is Dead, we are the Winners" is a line in the song Sin Society by the German aggrotech project C-Drone-Defect.
• Maniac, the former vocalist of Black Metal Band Mayhem used the phrase 'God is Dead' each time the band played the song 'Fall of Seraphs' in concerts.
• Morbid Angel use the phrase "Dead, your god is dead. Fools, your god is dead!" in the song Chapel of Ghouls from the 1989 album "Altars of Madness".
• NYC hardcore punk/ska band Leftover Crack repeats the phrase "Yer God is dead to me" several times during the chorus of their song Atheist Anthem.
• In the 2006 album The Avalance by Sufjan Steven, Sufjan utters the line during the song Dear Mister Supercomputer.
• No-Ca$h has a song called "Pierce the Gates" one line in the song goes; "Remember kids, God is dead, and Jesus Christ never saved anyone!"

[edit] Other uses

• "God is dead" is shouted by John Proctor in The Crucible.
• The actual, physical death of God is the subject of James Morrow's Godhead Trilogy
• In Rosemary's Baby, written by Ira Levin, Rosemary sees a copy of Time magazine with "Is God Dead?" on the cover in the waiting room of her obstetrician. "God is dead" is then shouted by her neighbors and the rest of their group later in the movie.
• Philip K. Dick mentions the death of God in passing in his 1970 novel Our Friends from Frolix 8.

  "God is dead," Nick said. "They found his carcass in 2019. Floating out in space near Alpha."

• A Kids in the Hall comedy sketch features a 1950's-style news report declaring that God is not only dead, but his body was found and he was of remarkably tiny stature.
• The television drama The Second Coming ends with God dying, in order to scare humanity into actually living their lives, and to remove eternal punishment in hell.
• Jesus Christ Supercop, a six-episode parody/comedy series, features both Nietzsche and Jesus (who is bitter towards the former for having killed his father).
• In 1950, the Lettrists (pre-Situationism Situationists) broke into Notre Dame Cathedral during Easter High Mass, kidnapped a priest and stole his robes. A member of the group took to the pulpit and announced to the Mass (about 40,000 people) "Frères, Dieu est mort" ("Brothers, God is dead" in French). He then began to elaborate on the religious and moral implications before the crowd burst out into a riot.
• Near the climax of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, Will and Lyra unwittingly release the senile God from his protective prison, allowing him to finally die.
• In the episode of The Simpsons entitled 'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky, Homer observes a beautiful meteor shower and comments,"I wish God was alive to see this."
• An Entertainment Weekly magazine cover featuring Jerry Garcia had the headline, "Is Dead God?"

[edit] Quotations

• "God is dead: of his pity for man hath God died."
• "The God who beheld everything, AND ALSO MAN: that God had to die! Man cannot ENDURE it that such a witness should live."
• "God is dead. Let us not understand by this that he does not exist or even that he no longer exists. He is dead. He spoke to us and is silent. We no longer have anything but his cadaver. Perhaps he slipped out of the world, somewhere else like the soul of a dead man. Perhaps he was only a dream ... God is dead." Jean-Paul Sartre
• Nietzsche: "God is dead" God: "Nietzsche is dead" (A popular joke, often found graffitied on walls, particularly of university towns. One who has read Nietzsche might add a quote from Ecce Homo, "Some men are born posthumously." A variant: "God is dead, Nietzsche is dead and I'm not feeling too good myself.") This can be furthermore continued: "A good exchange," or the whole may be rendered with a third element as: ""God is dead" – Nietzsche / "Nietzsche is dead" – God / "Nietzsche is God" – Foucault." The satirical wiki Uncyclopedia took this even further by creating an article consisting of a fictional argument between Nietzsche and God. [1]

[edit] See also

• Postmodern Christianity
• Weak theology

[edit] References

• Kaufmann, Walter. Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1974
• Roberts, Tyler T. Contesting Spirit: Nietzsche, Affirmation, Religion Princeton University Press, 1998

[edit] Notes

1. ^ trans. Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale; Twilight of the Idols, Expeditions of an Untimely Man, sect. 5
2. ^ trans. Hollingdale; Daybreak, Preface, sect. 1

[edit] 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).

[edit] External Web Pages

• Some passages from 'The Gay Science', including the 'God is Dead' passages