THE NIETZSCHE DIALOGUES (1): Nietzsche vs. Christianity (w/ Paul Robson)
Nietzsche is often perceived as Christianity's arch-enemy, a man who opens and closes his philosophy around topics that force Christianity into its own abyss. Nietzsche's work has had far reaching implications for 20th century theology, his ideas about the "Death of God", and the "slave mentality" of religious subjectivity maintain their power into the 21st century. Today it is not uncommon for secular society to proclaim that God and religious subjectivity are dying out, and that, in the future, subjectivity will totally break the metaphysical shackles of our past, forming a new consciousness without an other-worldly master capable of grounding virtues of good and evil, heaven and hell. Here I attempt to dialogue with Paul Robson, founder of Maniphesto, part of a larger European Men's Network, a former secular atheist in the Dawkins tradition, and now a self-identified Christian whose belief in God has helped him to build a new movement towards empowered masculinity in the 21st century. How can we think some of Nietzsche's philosophical challenges for Christian theology?