Nietzsche's Protestant fathers : a study in prodigal Christianity / Thomas R. Nevin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nevin, Thomas R., 1944- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900.

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm.

Protestantism--History.

Protestantism.

History.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 281 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2019.

Summary:

"Nietzsche was famously an atheist, despite coming from a strongly Protestant family. This heritage influenced much of his thought, but was it in fact the very thing that led him to his atheism? This work provides a radical re-assessment of Protestantism by documenting and extrapolating Nietzsche's view that Christianity dies from the head down. That is, through Protestantism's inherent anarchy. In this book, Nietzsche is put into conversation with the initiatives of several powerful thinking writers; Luther, Boehme, Leibniz, and Lessing. Using Nietzsche as a critical guide to the evolution of Protestant thinking, each is shown to violate, warp, or ignore gospel injunctions, and otherwise pose hazards to the primacy of Christian ethics. Demonstrating that a responsible understanding of Protestantism as a historical movement needs to engage with its inherent flaws, this is a text that will engage scholars of philosophy, theology, and religious studies alike"-- Provided by publisher.

Nietzsche was famously an atheist, despite coming from a strongly Protestant family. This heritage influenced much of his thought, but was it in fact the very thing that led him to his atheism? This work provides a radical re-assessment of Protestantism by documenting and extrapolating Nietzsche's view that Christianity dies from the head down. That is, through Protestantism's inherent anarchy. 0In this book, Nietzsche is put into conversation with the initiatives of several powerful thinking writers; Luther, Boehme, Leibniz, and Lessing. Using Nietzsche as a critical guide to the evolution of Protestant thinking, each is shown to violate, warp, or ignore gospel injunctions, and otherwise pose hazards to the primacy of Christian ethics. 0Demonstrating that a responsible understanding of Protestantism as a historical movement needs to engage with its inherent flaws, this is a text that will engage scholars of philosophy, theology, and religious studies alike.

Contents:

Introduction: Nietzsche, companion and commentator

Martin Luther denies love to God

The evil in God: Jacob Boehme finds the cosmos

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz presumes to scan God

The prodigality of reason: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Conclusion: Nietzsche facing Christianity.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Nevin, Thomas R., 1944- author. Nietzsche's Protestant fathers

ISBN:

9781138391208

1138391204

OCLC:

1053169437