FAITH AND NIETZSCHE
Gary
W. Summers
Friedrich
Nietzsche was a German philosopher who lived from 1844-1900. His life was shorter than Mark Twain’s
(1835-1910), and his works were not nearly so humorous. Several of Nietzsche’s writings are studied
by philosophy students, an action which could be construed as cruel and unusual
punishment. The following definition is
his: “Faith means not wanting to know what is true.”
An appropriate
response would be the words of the Savior: “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures,
nor the power of God” (Matt.
Many people today
would likely agree with his severely flawed definition. They set faith in
opposition to knowledge and act as if faith
bypasses the brain. The problem is that
these are assumptions on their part, which they can never prove.
Are Nietzsche
(and possibly others) guilty of the charge they level at Christians? What they have chosen to believe (have faith
in—whatever it is) involves a rejection of the truth, which is found in the
words of Jesus and the apostles (John
Jesus never asked
anyone to believe in Him without evidence.
After all, He made some rather stupefying claims—to be the Son of God
(Mark 14:61-62), to be the light of the world (John
The Proof
From the very
beginning of His public ministry, the people knew what power Jesus
possessed. Consider these descriptions:
Now Jesus went about all
Wherever He entered, into villages,
cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him
that they might just touch the border of His garment. And as many as touched
Him were made well (Mark
To be sure, the
rulers of the Jews rejected the evidence, but they never claimed there was NO
proof being offered, as the presumptuous Nietzsche did. Jesus never rebuked anyone for requiring evidence—only rejecting
it. Even one of the twelve, Thomas,
said, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into
the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe!”
(John 20:25). Now Thomas should have
believed the testimony of reliable witnesses, but Jesus appeared to him anyway
and invited him to examine the evidence in His body. To his credit, he did believe then,
confessing, “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28).
Thomas certainly
did not typify the person Nietzsche described.
Instead of not wanting to know
the truth and believing in ignorance, it appears more likely that he did not
want to believe the truth that he already
should have known, since Jesus had foretold His resurrection and others had
affirmed that they had seen Him alive from the dead. The philosopher was wrong; Christians go
where the evidence leads.
The Task of the Apostles
People believed
in Jesus, then, not only because of His words (which no earthly philosopher has
ever matched), but because of His deeds, also.
Then imagine the apostles preaching as Lord a man who had been crucified
outside of
So how does one
go about gaining adherents to a new religion when the founder has been
crucified? The Holy Spirit came upon the
apostles in a dramatic fashion, causing them to speak in the languages of those
Jews in
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus
of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which
God did through Him in your midst, as you also yourselves know” (Acts 2:22).
The plain fact
was that Jesus had been crucified despite all the good things He had
done. Peter would later tell the
household of Cornelius that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy
Spirit and with power” and that He “went about doing good and healing all who
were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). Peter appealed to the wonders Jesus had
performed, as well as to the fulfillment of the Scriptures regarding His
resurrection. When the people thought
about the character and deeds of Jesus, the prophecies written in their own
Scriptures hundreds of years earlier, and the eyewitness testimony of the
apostles, about 3,000 believed on that day, with more committing themselves
shortly thereafter (Acts 2:41).
Still, how could people
all over the world be convinced of these things, so that the kingdom that was
established on the Day of Pentecost would grow?
The answer is that the apostles were entrusted with the same powers that
Jesus possessed. Jesus had promised:
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8). The
Lord’s Word was fulfilled in a huge way.
What transpired on the Day of Pentecost was just the beginning. The miracles that attended the apostles
captured the attention of people everywhere, as the following passages
concerning Peter and Paul demonstrate.
And believers were increasingly added
to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they brought the sick
out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the
shadow of Peter passing them by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered
from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who
were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed (Acts 5:14-16).
Now God worked unusual miracles by
the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his
body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of
them (Acts 19:11-12).
God worked with
the apostles (Mark
Not only did the
apostles themselves operate with miraculous powers, they were able to lay their
hands upon Christians and impart various spiritual gifts (1 Cor.
12:4-11). So impressive was that ability
to confer spiritual gifts upon members of the body that Simon the Sorcerer tried
to buy that power, for which he was soundly rebuked (Acts 8:18-24). Churches in the first century exercised these
gifts until the Bible was entirely revealed, at which time they ceased (1 Cor. 13:8-13).
The Bible then
was highly regarded by brethren everywhere around the world. It would take more than a
millennium-and-a-half for man to become so bold as to challenge that which had
been verified and venerated for centuries.
Faith, however, has always been based upon truth.
Editor’s Arguments
The editor of a
local monthly paper, called The Flame, cited the
quotation from Nietzsche in his brief December, 2006 article. The quotation is not cited within the
article; it just echoes the thrust of the five paragraphs, which is that some people
believe what they choose to believe. The
writer is correct with that observation, and he cites two humorous examples.
The first was his
editorship of a weekly college newspaper.
He wrote (as a joke) an astrology column, in which he published the same
description each week but just rotated the headings. What was “forecast” under Leo one week would
be Virgo’s the next week and Libra the week after that. One individual told him that his horoscope
“was the most accurate she had ever read” (which could well have been true).
Later, as an
entertainer, he did a routine in which he played a Gypsy “fortune teller,”
named Madame Lunch-meat.” One audience
member was so impressed with his “psychic” ability that she wanted a private
reading. Sigh! He concludes by saying that no rational
person should have taken these things seriously. True!
The application
of these two incidents is too broad, however.
Below is the fourth paragraph:
…the true believers wanted to
believe. And there is increasing evidence that for most people, beliefs of all
kinds—religious, political and social—have far less to do with rational thought
than with a desire to believe….
How true that
last statement is of liberals. Neither evidence
nor the consequences of their positions ever seem to affect their views.
But notice that
the effectiveness of his comments begins to deteriorate when he said “the true
believers wanted to believe.” Such
language immediately put “true believers” in the category of sappy flakes, who
could not think their way out of an elementary maze.
In actuality,
true believers are those who are so committed that they will sacrifice their
lives if such is required rather than renounce the truth—just as Christians in
the first three centuries frequently did.
The editor is describing those who believe what they do in the absence of evidence.
The
“star-crossed” lovers of Romeo and Juliet aside, heavenly bodies do not tell us
what to do or how to live. The “Age of
Aquarius” has not brought harmony and understanding; sympathy and trust are not
abounding. Men fight with more advanced
weapons than ever before, and hatred has gone high tech. Maybe Jupiter needs to align with something besides
Mars. No proof has ever been offered to
validate astrology.
What “fortune
teller” has ever been convincing? Every
year some of them make predictions.
Their accuracy rate is somewhere below 10%. The prophets of God, however, have always
been 100% correct. So, who is
irrational, and who lives according to evidence?
The fact that
people choose to believe what they wish only demonstrates that God gave
everyone free will. Some do believe
simply on the basis that they desire to believe. But, should all believers be lumped in the
same category and unceremoniously discarded?
Daniel found himself in such a position.
King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that was significant, but he could not
remember it. He called for his astrologers
and magicians, demanding that they tell him his dream and its interpretation,
which they obviously could not do. He
began killing all his wise men. Daniel
was lumped in that category, even though he was not fraudulent, as were the
others. Daniel said to hold on—that
“there is a God in heaven, who reveals secrets...” (Dan. 2:28). He then, by the power of God, informed the
king of the dream and its interpretation.
Likewise, just be-cause Christians believe in the truth based on correct
reasoning with ample evidence, we do not deserve to be classified with those
who believe in something for which no demonstrable proof has ever been
provided. Is the difference not
distinguishable?
The editor says that “debates can be fun but almost nobody ever changes
their basic presuppositions.” Honest
people, who subscribe to the quaint notion that truth exists, do change. Many did in the first century. That generation in which Christ was preached found
people steeped in idolatry. So effective
was the Word of God in changing the presuppositions that people were born with
that in Ephesus people burned all their magic books (Acts 19:19-20). They gave up their beliefs in Zeus and Hera or Jupiter and Juno because they accepted the truth
about Christ and His ability to redeem mankind from sin.
Members of the churches of Christ have conducted significant and
successful debates for two centuries.
These would number in the hundreds, if not the thousands. Tens of thousands have changed as a result of
the convincing work done during these events.
Living in the age of Postmodernism does not help, because many no longer
care what truth is. Among those who do,
however, debates can still be rewarding.
Has Anyone Lived Based on Evidence?
The editor concludes by saying that it would be an interesting
experiment “to try to live one’s life based only on evidence rather than
belief. I wonder if anyone has succeeded?” [sic].
Once again, the editor erroneously assumes that evidence and belief are
mutually exclusive instead of the latter being based on the former. Perhaps he might consider Saul of
Tarsus. This devout Jew at first rejected
the truth of Christianity. He had the
saints arrested and put in prison. He
compelled them to blaspheme, persecuted them, and voted for them to be put to
death (Acts 26:9-11). He did all these
things with a clear conscience (Acts 23:1).
One day he discovered that he was wrong.
A bright light from heaven shone around him, and he fell to his
knees. Jesus spoke to him and asked him
why was he persecuting Him. Saul asked the identity of the one speaking
to him. One can only imagine how thunderstruck
Saul was when the answer came to his ears: “I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting!” (Acts 9:3-6). Saul’s heart must have
wilted. No one has ever been more dead
wrong than he. How it must have grieved
him to comprehend the enormity of his actions!
He arose, went into
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