/lit/ - Literature

but this does not necessarily put christianity out of the picture; of course these traditional notions that he critiques are not uncontroversial. for example, i find that kierkegaard is very similar to nietzsche in his critiques + presents an extremely life-affirming christianity (it is incredible how similar their life-affirming religions are), one that does not recognise death as a release from suffering, which does not care about the objective truth of christianity, which puts a focus on the immanent existential and practical possibilities that christianity unlocks instead, which promotes a pragmatism towards everything upbuilding (rather than making suffering a virtue), that wants one to learn from the lily of the field and the bird of the air, those “joyful teachers of joy, who just because they are unconditionally joyful are joy itself”. clearly this is not the life-denying christianity that nietzsche finds. and I believe nietzsche would not at all have a problem with christianity if people actually saw christianity like this. other philosophers and theologians also present a life-affirming christianity too, altizer and tillich for example. nietzsche seeks to give christians self-knowledge of the shameful origins of their religious belief not to abolish religious belief but to reform it; of course for him this is a reform into greek religion but there is no special reason why this can't be done from a christian perspective, something that kierkegaard clearly does,fully affirming immanent life from a christian perspective. this is all nietzsche could ask for.

(2/2)