God is dead

[mothandrust]

Parable of the Madman

Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market place, and cried incessantly: "I seek God! I seek God!"---As many of those who did not believe in God were standing around just then, he provoked much laughter. Has he got lost? asked one. Did he lose his way like a child? asked another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? emigrated?---Thus they yelled and laughed.

The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. "Whither is God?" he cried; "I will tell you. We have killed him---you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning? Do we hear nothing as yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we smell nothing as yet of the divine decomposition? Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.

"How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whoever is born after us---for the sake of this deed he will belong to a higher history than all history hitherto."

Here the madman fell silent and looked again at his listeners; and they, too, were silent and stared at him in astonishment. At last he threw his lantern on the ground, and it broke into pieces and went out. "I have come too early," he said then; "my time is not yet. This tremendous event is still on its way, still wandering; it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time; the light of the stars requires time; deeds, though done, still require time to be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than most distant stars---and yet they have done it themselves.

It has been related further that on the same day the madman forced his way into several churches and there struck up his requiem aeternam deo. Led out and called to account, he is said always to have replied nothing but: "What after all are these churches now if they are not the tombs and sepulchers of God?"

Source: Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science

i was searching for part of the above to reference in my latest project. but i'd forgotten what a powerful piece it is (imo), and having been stirred by the emotions thought i'd quickly post it here, just in case someone else might appreciate it.

now, back to work...

[capmtripps]

(10-15-2010 02:03 AM)mothandrust Wrote:  Parable of the Madman

Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market place, and cried incessantly: "I seek God! I seek God!"---As many of those who did not believe in God were standing around just then, he provoked much laughter. Has he got lost? asked one. Did he lose his way like a child? asked another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? emigrated?---Thus they yelled and laughed.

The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. "Whither is God?" he cried; "I will tell you. We have killed him---you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning? Do we hear nothing as yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we smell nothing as yet of the divine decomposition? Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.

"How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whoever is born after us---for the sake of this deed he will belong to a higher history than all history hitherto."

Here the madman fell silent and looked again at his listeners; and they, too, were silent and stared at him in astonishment. At last he threw his lantern on the ground, and it broke into pieces and went out. "I have come too early," he said then; "my time is not yet. This tremendous event is still on its way, still wandering; it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time; the light of the stars requires time; deeds, though done, still require time to be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than most distant stars---and yet they have done it themselves.

It has been related further that on the same day the madman forced his way into several churches and there struck up his requiem aeternam deo. Led out and called to account, he is said always to have replied nothing but: "What after all are these churches now if they are not the tombs and sepulchers of God?"

Source: Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science

i was searching for part of the above to reference in my latest project. but i'd forgotten what a powerful piece it is (imo), and having been stirred by the emotions thought i'd quickly post it here, just in case someone else might appreciate it.

now, back to work...

This is the bit he wrote before Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and is a huge part of what that book tries to communicate. If you haven't read that I highly recommend it. (It's my favourite Nietzsche, and biblical style fiction putting forth that idea much more elaborately, need I say more?)

Peace

[Mami]

God Is Not Dead is a fascinating guided tour of quantum physics, consciousness, and the existence and experience of God. Amit shows readers that God’s existence can be found in clues that the science of quantum physics reveals.

Goswami helps readers to break through their materialistic conditioning, viewing reality as defined by Newtonian physics, to become free through a quantum understanding and experience of consciousness and God.

In fact, God Is Not Dead argues for a quantum activism, leading a balanced life that incorporates both the quantum and material worlds and an experience of consciousness.

God Is Not Dead will change how readers think and experience the nature of reality, the existence of souls, the power of dreams, the universality of love, the possibility of ESP, and the very mind of God.

http://www.amitgoswami.org/

The Quantum Activist : http://concen.org/tracker/torrents-details.php?id=10127

[capmtripps]

I don't think you got Nietzsche's point. The purpose here is not to convince one another about the existence or non-existence of god, but rather to show that the general complacency about what it means to 'believe' in god has rendered 'it' dead.

[mothandrust]

(10-16-2010 05:08 PM)capmtripps Wrote:  I don't think you got Nietzsche's point. The purpose here is not to convince one another about the existence or non-existence of god, but rather to show that the general complacency about what it means to 'believe' in god has rendered 'it' dead

agreed.
and i read the above (or something very similar) in Zarathustra, just that this was the first thing that came up in google, and suited my purpose well enough (i've not read 'the gay science').

[h3rm35]

I have to enter more than 5 characters - "yup."