NIETZSCHE’S THE ANTI CHRIST: A Critical Introduction and Guide

Description

A critical introduction to and interpretation of one of Nietzsche’s last works

The Anti-Christ, although written in 1888, was not published until 1895. It is one of the most notorious, if not the most notorious, books by Nietzsche – and one of his most frequency misrepresented. The main cause for scandal has been its expression of a virulent anti-religious and specifically anti-Christian stance. But Nietzsche’s philologically informed approach to Scripture and his far more charitable interpretation of the figure of Jesus make a reconsideration of this work timely, not to say urgent.

Presupposing no prior knowledge of Nietzsche or the text, nor with Christian beliefs or doctrines, Paul Bishop carefully guides students through The Anti-Christ section by section. Bishop unpacks the difficulties that many readers face when dealing with Nietzsche’s rhetoric. And he contextualises the text within the wider contexts of Nietzsche’s thought as a whole and the broader currents of contemporary 19th and 20th century thought.

Paul Bishop is William Jacks Chair of Modern Languages in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Glasgow. His research examines the history of ideas with a particular interest in the reception of Nietzsche in the fields of psychoanalysis, analytical psychology, and Lebensphilosophie.

Review

In this insightful critical guide, Paul Bishop develops an admirably clear and incisive analysis of Nietzsche’s The Anti-Christ, arguing that we should treat philology as its central theme. Bishop considers how Nietzsche raises and responds to problems of secularism and post-secularism in the text, and contends that The Anti-Christ, while still controversial today, has never been more timely and relevant. Bishop superbly demonstrates the continuing relevance of Nietzsche and philology by connecting Nietzsche’s own philological concerns in The Anti-Christ to diverse religious traditions and histories, as well as to pressing current issues such as climate change, global financial and health crises, and transhumanism. Bishop’s argument is supported by careful and discerning scholarly attention to Nietzsche’s texts, and to scholarship on Nietzsche and religion. – Rebecca Bamford, Queen’s University Belfast