God is Dead. God Remains Dead. And We Have Killed Him.

by Friedrich Nietzsche

'We have left dry land and put out to sea! We have burned the bridge behind us - what is more, we have burned the land behind us!'Nietzsche's devastating demolition of religion would have seismic consequences for future generations. With God dead, he envisages a brilliant future for one in which individuals would at last be responsible for their destinies.One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Classics, Religion, Poetry, Literature, Education

ebook

First published January 1, 1888

About the author

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German classical scholar, philosopher, and critic of culture, who became one of the most influential of all modern thinkers. He began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest person to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869 at the age of 24, but resigned in 1879 due to health problems that plagued him most of his life; he completed much of his core writing in the following decade. In 1889, at age 44, he suffered a collapse and afterward a complete loss of his mental faculties, with paralysis and probably vascular dementia. He lived his remaining years in the care of his mother until her death in 1897 and then with his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche. Nietzsche died in 1900, after experiencing pneumonia and multiple strokes.
Nietzsche's work spans philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism, and fiction while displaying a fondness for aphorism and irony. Prominent elements of his philosophy include his radical critique of truth in favour of perspectivism; a genealogical critique of religion and Christian morality and a related theory of master–slave morality; the aesthetic affirmation of life in response to both the "death of God" and the profound crisis of nihilism; the notion of Apollonian and Dionysian forces; and a characterisation of the human subject as the expression of competing wills, collectively understood as the will to power. He also developed influential concepts such as the Übermensch and his doctrine of eternal return. In his later work, he became increasingly preoccupied with the creative powers of the individual to overcome cultural and moral mores in pursuit of new values and aesthetic health. His body of work touched a wide range of topics, including art, philology, history, music, religion, tragedy, culture, and science, and drew inspiration from Greek tragedy as well as figures such as Zoroaster, Arthur Schopenhauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Wagner, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
After his death, Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth became the curator and editor of his manuscripts. She edited his unpublished writings to fit her German ultranationalist ideology, often contradicting or obfuscating Nietzsche's stated opinions, which were explicitly opposed to antisemitism and nationalism. Through her published editions, Nietzsche's work became associated with fascism and Nazism. 20th-century scholars such as Walter Kaufmann, R.J. Hollingdale, and Georges Bataille defended Nietzsche against this interpretation, and corrected editions of his writings were soon made available. Nietzsche's thought enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1960s and his ideas have since had a profound impact on 20th- and early 21st-century thinkers across philosophy—especially in schools of continental philosophy such as existentialism, postmodernism, and post-structuralism—as well as art, literature, music, poetry, politics, and popular culture.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

welcome to: THE PENGUIN GREAT IDEAS PROJECT!

i am both addicted to projects and very into short books that make me look smart, so this project (which has been on pause for 3 months while i attempted to finish my reading challenge without having an average page count of 14) is a perfect fit.

i have acquired a couple dozen penguin great ideas installments, and i will be attempting to read one a day until i get bored, catch up, or reach spiritual fulfillment!

find past books here:
WHAT IS EXISTENTIALISM?
REFLECTIONS ON THE GUILLOTINE
THREE JAPANESE BUDDHIST MONKS
REFLECTIONS ON THE GUILLOTINE
THE DECAY OF LYING
AIN'T I A WOMAN
BRIEF NOTES ON THE ART AND MANNER OF ARRANGING ONE'S BOOKS
THE POWER OF WORDS

can you tell i'm an optimist.

this was surprisingly readable and super interesting, even though at times it very much delved into "things the edgiest boy in your seventh-grade chemistry class would say" territory.

but i guess it's not nietzche's fault that that's his new demographic. or that critiques of religion aren't necessarily my favorite.

the broader parts i loved!

[Joseph Solomon · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, as a former conservative evangelical, Nietzsche used to be regarded as one of the arch-villains of christian belief in the intellectual realm lol. I've read so many quotes and summaries of Nietzsche through the mouths and pens of theologians and apologists, i could fool myself into thinking i actually knew how Nietzsche writes and thinks. i think many christian authors and speakers have done a great job of turning him into the boogeyman, to the point that most parishioners would leave directly engaging with Friedrich to the seminarians.

of course, i was wrong.

First, yes, as expected, Friedrich has a deep disdain for religion, but particularly Christian religion, and at times a very humorous disdain at that. (sometime i want to ask, Who hurt you bro?) I also expected, for whatever reason, for this to be more of a "defense of atheism" than it was. it wasn't that at all, actually.

i suspect, maybe, what's more threatening about Nietzsche to the religious is not the dismantling of apologetic arguments or evidences or whatever. it's the humanity of his approach, if you're open enough to hear him in that way. some of his writing feels cold and hard, but also is hopeful about life outside of the need for god. (or even the need for labels of those who choose to opt of the charade of religious thought) the more you're able to dehumanize non-religious thought and mystify the person who's not as concerned with god as you are, -the more you can make him into this demonic ghoulish character who lurks in the dark- the more you're able to keep people from genuinely and openly engaging with them and drawing their own conclusions. to some degree, you neutralize the threat. just read the 1-star and 2-star reviews of this book. it's christians who paint him as prideful, which gives them the permission to not have to genuinely engage with or consider what he's saying.

i was surprised to hear his pretty charitable feelings towards the Jesus of the gospels. it turns out, his bone to pick is really with everything pre-Jesus (judaism) and everything post Judaism (namely, the apostle Paul and the Roman church). and I never really considered Jesus in the way that he did.

i was surprised to find nietzche as much a poet as he is a polemic. his creativity with stories and prose made this a much more enjoyable book, than say something like "The God Delusion" or other books in the "god-debate" category.

anyways, good short read. look forward to revisiting all the highlights i made.

[Morgan Holdsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

“From the very beginning, Christianity has taken advantage of the tremendous longing for suicide as an instrument of power”

An illuminating pocket guide to Nietzche’s personal views on God. I personally enjoyed the second half more than the former as it contained some reference to Kantian Deontology, however, my only criticism is that it’s slightly broken apart in reading, but it is pieced together post the lifetime of Nietzsche so it is understandable.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a bit hard to get through. It's a pretty classic quote, but I found myself struggling to care about most of these tirades.

I read a book on psychology recently that made the claim that we've killed God but we still have all the neurosis that caused us to create him in the first place. I think that's pretty accurate.

'We have left dry land and put out to sea! We have burned the bridge behind us - what is more, we have burned the land behind us!'

I don't think we've fully burned that land.

[Zainab Abdul Aziz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the title should be 'Christian God is Dead' then. He didn't really present a robust argument against the existence of God, but rather take a dig at Christianity.

It always fascinates me how atheists are inclined to use a patronising tone when talking about religion.

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting, I didn’t always agree (although I did agree more than I didn’t) but I’m a big advocate for reading things that challenge your beliefs and ideas. Nietzsche did NOT hold back. I miss studying philosophy.

[Allie Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

“… a certain air of gloom hangs over all these [metaphysical ideas], a sense of weariness, fatalism, disillusionment and fear of further disillusionment - or else a show of ire, ill-humour, anarchistic indignation and all other symptoms whereby a sense of weakness masquerades as something else.”

SUCH an interesting read - esp if you love talking about where (Western) ideas of ‘civilisation’ and ‘morality’ stem from and why disenfranchised people seek faith. Also the part about polytheism vs monotheism vs atheism is so interesting.

[Kris Demey]

Het moest snel gaan, maar dit boek geeft wel degelijk weer wat de titel belooft.
Lees het eerder als een waarschuwing dan een bevrijding en kijk goed naar wat het zingevingsvacuüm na het verdwijnen van (georganiseerde) godsdienst heeft ingenomen en wat van ons brave volgelingen heeft gemaakt. *ahum* *consumentisme*

[Joseph Langham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I think he doesn't like religion much...
Even though he makes a number of references I didn't quite understand as a mere amateur, there are still plenty of really excellent arguments here and it's all very thought-provoking. That combined with the front cover bumps it up to 4 stars

[baelgia · Rating 5 out of 5]

i picked up this lil book for its cover and for the purposes of feeling Sophisticated while reading Nietzsche in public (although i mostly ended up feeling self-conscious). i didn't think it would be so funny and poetic??

Nietzsche's a good writer. his prose is good, so dramatic, his arguments are easy to follow. i didn't think they were delicate or subtle but halfway through his second essay i felt that the axis of my existence has shifted by .1 degrees, without my noticing!

for me, and maybe for me only, God is Dead is up there with Machiavelli whispering in my ear that religion is a tool for subjugation. it's a little better honestly because Nietzsche's motivations are more in line with mine (i am not a prince). highly rec to anyone with religious trauma or any kind of religious hang-ups. i genuinely had so much fun reading God is Dead. can't wait to start Human, All Too Human.

[Alexander Rabben Mohr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hadde lyst til å mislike denne boka siden den var en sammenslåing av segmenter fra flere ulike bøker men den var egentlig ganske grei. Den første delen er hentet fra en bok Nietzsche aldri publiserte selv, og det skinner til tider ganske tydelig igjennom at han allerede er blitt litt koko. Den andre delen var fra en bok han publiserte selv mens han fremdeles var tilregnelig, gleder meg til å lese den i sin helhet.

Key takeaways:
Hvis vi alle er enige om at Gud er død, hvorfor består den kristne moralen?
Og når vi først beveger oss vekk fra den kristne moralen, hva skal tjene som forankring og meningsdannende grunnlag?
Religion som medisin ment å lindre problemer religionen selv bragte med seg.

[june · Rating 4 out of 5]

he gets me

[Jessica Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent critique on the corruption of Christianity (NOT of religion as a whole). Nietzsche describes they ways in which we (as in Western society) has destroyed “religion” and killed “God”, and can now achieve nobler heights by taking charge of our own destinies—an understandable conclusion when made without the knowledge of the progressive nature of religion and the oneness of God.

[Gladys Ng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Felt nervous reading this in public cause Nietzsche writes like the uncensored friend you have who says things you could get cancelled for by association.

[Hannah Johnston · Rating 1 out of 5]

I appreciated a lot of points Nietzsche made and found many of them insightful, even though I didn’t agree with most of them! But I gave it such a low rating because Nietzsches tone is extremely prideful, and I think that really hurts his case. I also found many of his criticisms of Christianity based on obvious prejudices and bad examples of Christianity that he must have witnessed, and not based on what the faith actually teaches. So I found it a bit narrow minded and based on his own interpretation of Christianity, rather than a deep understanding of the religion.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good read, definitely much more manageable in this small form as a collection of his works as have felt somewhat intimidated by dudebros who claim to know the ins and outs. Also a beautiful little book very aesthetically pleasing.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘God is dead’ or, more precisely, the Judeo-Christian god is dead. This book was an interesting critique of (primarily) Christianity & organised religion. The consequences of killing god are that we have created a bigger (potential) danger - the death of universal truth and the imminent arrival of chaos (a state of nihilism). But this is also presented an opportunity for development and growth.

On the one hand, I find Nietzsche’s critique of ‘the Church’ compelling: ‘The Church is precisely that against which Jesus preached and against which he taught his disciples to fight’ [p.22]. (He largely holds Paul responsible for the corruption of the Christian message.) Similarly persuasive is his argument against our preoccupation with morality, and fear of sensuality.

On the other, at times I feel Nietzsche is too dismissive and condescending towards religion, belief, and believers. (Perhaps influenced by his upbringing in a strict Lutheran household?) He labels those who accept Christian doctrine as ‘poor little foolish heads’ [p.27]. People who are satisfied with Christianity are ‘weak’ they have ‘neither the strength to seek, to struggle, to dare, to be willing to stand alone’ [p.45].

I can’t claim to have understood the entirety of this book, so this review is no doubt limited.

[olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Many thanks to Olivia O. For lending it to me. Nietzsche isn’t trying to dismantle religion by taking apart the bible and finding inconsistencies- he’s talking about the intellectual weakness of the religious and mankind’s immense unchecked potential without the overbearing presence of God.

“No! Life has not deceived or disappointed me! Every year I find it more genuine, more desirable and more mysterious- ever since that day when the great liberator came to me: the idea that life might be an experiment for the knowledge-seeker - and not a duty, not a tragedy, not a swindle!”

[Mie Sørensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This dude is such a drama queen, it’s honestly hilarious to read.

[rebeca ravara]

don't know how i feel about rating a book like this but basically this is yet another addition to my attempts of broadening my reading style and not just reading fiction books or romances. this was different but nice, kind of weird to read but some ideas were really well conveyed. my first nietzsche! cheers.

[Hayley Devlin]

3⭐️
Took soooo long to finish I lost the point

[amelka · Rating 3 out of 5]

W skrócie: diss track na papieża

[sophelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

oy vey

[Ashley Combs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real thought provoking book. It critiques religion as a whole more than it attempts to prove that God doesn’t exist. I’m not sure I agree with his points against “believers,” as he certainly simplifies them, but I found a lot of his arguments against the Church and religion as a means of power to be quite compelling.

[Liberty Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you believe that the sciences would have arisen and grown if wizards, alchemists, astrologers and witches had not preceded them?

[Inês · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't even feel good at reviewing this book plus I find it unnecessary but still I need to express how much I enjoyed this read.

First I must say Nietzsche wrote about a point of view that I already shared prior to reading this. In this tho, he went very deep into the details and expressed it in an intricate and exquisite though-provoking scheme. I really like how the book is made of these little texts that, although short, are very powerful in it's content.

I wasn't used to reading this type of philosophic novel but I loved when I had a philosophy in high school and this brought all of those amazing memoirs back. I can't wait to read more books like these. Again I agreed with the author in most of his opinions and criticisms of religion in general but there was also so much more beyond that and I truly left this read with a bunch of interesting and overwhelming new ways of thinking.

A great book for all of those who like to take a moment to reflect on what you have read and are in need of a captivating learning challenge.

[Jonas Bækkevold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like interessant som forventet, men enda bedre enn forventet i utførelsen og retorikken. Genuin frustrasjon med glimt i øyet, og med ganske konkrete motsvar og alternativer som er overraskende optimistiske og positive til oss som mennesker. Veldig gøy å ha lest, litt vanskelig språk innimellom, så anbefales å ta seg god tid på den og ikke bare rushe igjennom.

«Christianity’s indifference as to whether a thing is true provided it is effective betrays an utter want of intellectual integrity. Everything is acceptable, including lying, slander or the most shameless hypocrisy, provided it serves to raise the temperature - until people ‘believe’»

[Tino Covelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for 19th century insta poetry

[james · Rating 4 out of 5]

'For fanaticism is actually the only "strength of will" of which the weak and irresolute are capable, as a kind of hypnotising of the entire sensory-intellectual system, an excessive preoccupation with, and hypertrophy of, a particular point of view and a particular sentiment which then comes to dominate them – the Christian calls it his belief. When a man arrives at the fundamental conviction that he must be commanded, he becomes a "believer"; conversely, we could imagine a delight in and capacity for self-determination, a freedom of the will, by which a spirit bids farewell to every belief, to every wish for certainty; being proficient in hanging on to thin ropes and possibilities, and even in dancing on the brink of the abyss. Such a spirit would be the free spirit par excellence.'

//

so true bestie

[Oline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Filosofi altså. Kompliserte saker (hvertfall på engelsk). Va en del ting æ ikke hang helt med på og som va komplisert skreve (spesielt andre delen), men my som også va sånn "whoaa kult ass!"
Nietzsche e en fyr man e my uenig med, mem han har nånn gode poeng også. Likt spesielt godt tema som handle om erkjennelse, kristendom som instutisjon (kirka), og makt. Tror æ ska begynn å satse mere på bøker som forklare filosofi, enn hovedverk fra filosofa for å gjør d enklere for mæ sjøl.