Philosophy: Basic Questions; Prof. Boedeker

Worksheet on Nietzsche, The Antichrist (in course packet), pp. 599-628

1. How does Nietzsche (in sections 28-35) characterize the Redeemer? What are the two “psychological realities” out of which he thinks the doctrine of the Redeemer grew (section 30)? What does Nietzsche mean when he calls the Redeemer type “a type of decadence” (section 31)? What does Nietzsche regard as the real purpose of the Redeemer’s death (section 35)?

2. What does Nietzsche take to be the relation between the beginning of Christianity in Christ’s death on the cross, and the subsequent history of the Christian Church (sections 36-39)?

3. How does Nietzsche define a “Christian”? How does he not define a “Christian”? (Note that the word in section 39 translated as “faith” is Glauben, which also means “belief”. Note also that the word “evangel” is from the Greek root for “good messenger”, i.e., “bringer of good tidings”.)

4. Explain Nietzsche’s account in sections 40, 41, and the end of 44 of the aftermath of the death of Jesus in the early Christian community. In what way does he think the early Christians misunderstood Jesus? These are very important sections, since they actually show Nietzsche praising Jesus, even though he condemns subsequent Christianity.

5. What important transformation of the image of Christ does Nietzsche in sections 42 and 47 attribute to the Apostle Paul (who lived from around 5AD through 67 AD)?

6. How does Nietzsche in section 43 account for the Christian belief in the immortal soul and the possibility of its salvation?

7. What message does Nietzsche see in the New Testament passages he assembles in section 45? What does he mean with his commentary to Paul, I Corinthians 1:20ff about “the contrast between a noble morality and a chandala morality, born of ressentiment and impotent vengefulness”? (Chandalas were the “outcastes” – the lowest of the low – in ancient Indian caste society.

8. What does Nietzsche mean when he writes in section 46 that “the priestly Christian… is a criterion of value”?