Nihilism: Its Origin and Nature--With a Christian Answer

by Helmut Thielicke

Professor Thielicke's lectures on nihilism deal with the experience of nothingness in Europe after World War II, and trace the development of the ism which attempts to interpret that experience.

Genres: Philosophy

190 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1961

Reviews

[Joshua Blanchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The chief virtue of this book, for me, was its genuinely sympathetic portrayal of its enemy - nihilism. Thielicke, in all his work, does a wonderful job of understanding the concerns of people in his age and future generations. Also, as opposed to certain other Christian authors, Thielicke is able to engage the human condition holistically and with all the rich tools of theology, philosophy, and culture, not just silly Scriptural one-liners.

[Karson · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was one chapter in this book about how amazing it is to be human. He quotes a lot from Kierkegaard in that one. I think it is a chapter i will revisit many times. I also like his tone. He writes very urgently. Originally the book was a series of lectures given to students in Germany right after world war two. It was a setting where the young listeners didn't really have any reason to believe a word anyone had to say about God or spirituality. They were very skeptical and Thielicke attempted to meet them where they were at. The result is a mature voice that really seeks to interact with the best thought of his day. He quotes from Camus, Sartre, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, and some others, but he genuinely attempts to have a conversation with their outlooks rather than overlooking their good points and pretending like they don't exist.

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was assigned reading for the freshman religion course that was required at the church college I attended back in the day. Thielicke was a Lutheran theologian of the mid-20th century who later in his career became the Protestant Bishop of Hamburg, Germany. In this book, he was addressing many of the concerns of his time some due to modernity in general, others due to the outlook among many in Germany in the wake of the devastation of World War II. An engaging read, which, looking back, I nevertheless did not appreciate fully at the time I first read it since I grew up in a quite different cultural environment.

[Thomas Burchfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough going, but worthwhile look at nothingness for discriminating readers, especially for secularists who are asking that important question: "Is this all there is?"