Nietzsche: God is Dead
Nietzsche is one of history's most famous philosophers, and he's well-loved on social media. But a lot of people misunderstand his most famous quotation: 'God is dead.'
Nietzsche didn't really like religion. In fact, he didn't really like any philosophy other than his own. But when he said 'God is dead,' he wasn't talking about the God of classical theism. He was talking about humanity — what we've done and what those actions mean.
'God is dead' is not the triumphant cheer of a dragon-slaying hero or a smug, cross-armed atheist at the back of the church. It's more like the shocked whispers of the lost. God, in this case, was the magnetic pole around which we all lived, and not the bearded, beneficent figure of myth.
Before the Enlightenment emphasised science and rationality, God meant certainty, truth, security, and purpose. He was the Alpha and the Omega and the answer to all of life's questions. He was the great parent who let the world make sense. And without God, Nietzsche goes on to say, it's as if we are falling with no sense of up or down. There's nothing to grab onto and nothing to steady us at all. It's as if we've been led by the hand all of our life, and suddenly we are here, alone.
'God is dead' is the moment of great awakening and also abandonment. It is when we realise we have to decide for ourselves. When Nietzsche meant this, he meant that we have to reorientate ourselves in a world without God. And this feeling of being left alone and to our own devices is both terrifying and empowering.