Synopsis of Nietzsche's late masterpiece, "The Antichrist (Antichrist)" - on Dostoevsky's "Grand Inquisitor's Chapters" and its connection to Buddhism
The book we present here is "The Antichrist," published by Nietzsche in 1888.
I read "Antichrist" in the Chikuma Gakugei Bunko edition of Nietzsche's Complete Works 14: The Twilight of the Idols, translated by Yu Hara. (*Many reference books translate "Antichrist" as "Antichrist," so I will use "Antichrist" to describe this work below.)
Let's take a quick look at this book. Nietzsche's Late Thoughts Explained by Kanji NishioThe Complete Works of Kanji Nishio, Vol. 5: Light and Cliff - Nietzsche in His Final Yearsstates the following
I have long considered "Antichrist" rather than "Behold the Man" to be Nietzsche's masterpiece of the last period, but I have long wondered why only this one work is objective, persuasive, and formally complete, while maintaining a very high tone of narration. Nietzsche's work is now beginning to be understood. For Nietzsche had finally, at the last moment, decided to settle the question of supreme value. And to do so, he decided to present a dramatically effective and tightly focused critique of Christianity. (omitted).
In fact, unlike his other works, "Antichrist" stands out for its persuasive tone, as if it were a convolution of unifying themes. The structure and organization of the argument are well calculated, and the dramatic narrative is superb in its appeal to the reader. He has found something to communicate. It is safe to say that he has broken new ground in literary form.
Kokushokan-kai, Kanji Nishio, "The Complete Works of Kanji Nishio, Vol. 5: Light and Cliff - Nietzsche in His Last Days," p. 29-30.
Nietzsche scholar Kanji Nishio considers this work to be the masterpiece of his later years and the most important work in Nietzsche's anti-Christian thought.
Nishio describes the central theme of the work as follows
The central theme of "The Antichrist" is summed up, so to speak, in the following short sentence.
...... I am a ChristianrealLet history tell the story. -The word "Christianity" is already a misnomer. -There was only one Christian, and he died on the cross. And he died on the cross. The Gospel died on the cross. From this moment on, what was thereafter called "the Gospel" was already dead,This personwas the opposite of what he lived in his body. (Verse 39)
Whether or not Nietzsche recognized the holiness of Jesus, it is undeniable that he had a glance at the kind of life that Jesus lived vicariously, his exemplary way of dying, and his sense of freedom and transcendence that transcended all feelings of lusantimanism. Rather than his admiration, one of the most important themes of "Antichrist" was how to understand Jesus' unparalleled execution apart from all existing Christian interpretations.
Another important theme was to portray, with rhinoceros-like psychological insight, the inevitability of the disciples' misunderstanding of Jesus and their building of a power structure, the church, from something completely opposite to the gospel.
The same thing that Jesus felt he had already done with himself and put away behind him, Nietzsche sees, humanity has continued to hold sacred in its conception of the "church. In this sense, the history of Christianity has been a process of gradual and crude misunderstanding of the fundamental significance of the gospel as Jesus presented it.
After Paul, things only got worse. Nietzsche does not believe for a moment that Paul overcame the Judaism of the primitive Christian church in Jerusalem, universalized Christianity for the Gentiles, and made it a world religion - a common sense assumption in the history of Christianity. He is relentless in his impeachment of historical Christianity.
Kokushokan-kai, Kanji Nishio, "The Complete Works of Kanji Nishio, Vol. 5: Light and Cliff - Nietzsche in His Last Days," p. 32-33.
Some line breaks have been made.
There is only one Christian. And Nietzsche's theory that that person died on the cross is quite shocking. It is a different kind of shock from the words "God is dead."
In this work, Nietzsche examines psychologically and historically how the Christian cult was established and continues to this day. The sharpness of his argument is so great that one wonders with bated breath what the cultists would say if confronted with it.
And as I read Nietzsche from the perspective of Dostoevsky, I can't help but see the theme of this "Antichrist" overlapping with the Grand Inquisitor's chapter in "The Brothers Karamazov".
Dostoevsky, too, pushes the history and questions of the Catholic Faith to the extreme through the mouth of Ivan. Both Nietzsche and Dostoevsky were mad thinkers who were compelled to explore to the extreme. I thought I could see the characteristics of these two men through "Antichrist".
Also, in writing this work, Nietzsche was also interested in Dostoevsky'sEvil Spirits."It is clear from his posthumous manuscripts that he was referring to the A look at that section of the Hakusuisha edition of "The Complete Works of Nietzsche, Vol. 10 (Phase II)," which is based on the Greuther edition, shows that a significant portion of "Evil Spirits" was excised. Nishio also points out these connections with Dostoevsky.
And what I personally found interesting about this work was its connection to Buddhism. The work is a merciless attack on Christianity, but is quite favorable to Buddhism. The following is a quote from Nishio's commentary on the work, which would be too difficult to quote directly from the text.
Verses 20-23 have the original title "Buddhism and Christianity," and Nietzsche, while condemning Christianity, greatly praises Buddhism, calling it "a religion for aged people. Buddhism is "a hundred times more sober, sincere, and objective" than Christianity, a religion that has already taken care of the concept of God at the time of its appearance.pragmaticThe article makes an interesting comparative religious argument, stipulating that religion is "a religion
Kokushokan Kankokai, Kanji Nishio, "The Complete Works of Kanji Nishio, Vol. 5: Light and Cliff - Nietzsche in His Last Days," p. 38.
Nietzsche was influenced by Schopenhauer and was also interested in Buddhist thought.
This was mentioned in the above book I mentioned earlier, but "Antichrist" clearly presents Nietzsche's views on Buddhism. This was very interesting to me as a monk.
Antichrist" seems to me, as Kanji Nishio states, to be one of the best of Nietzsche's works. Above all, it is easy to read! And the intensity of its ideas! This book is my favorite of all Nietzsche's works. I recommend this book especially to those who like Dostoevsky.
The above is a synopsis of Nietzsche's late masterpiece, "The Antichrist (Antichrist)," a commentary on Dostoevsky's "Grand Inquisitor's Chapters" and its connection to Buddhism.
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