Comparing Camus And Nietzsche's Denouncement Of Christianity

Christianity is a widespread ideology that over two billion people across the globe participate in. For some, having such a belief system allows one to have hope in a higher being while living in a desolate, secular world. However, others see this ‘faith’ in an abstract being can prevent one from truly living and experiencing reality. This can be seen in the personal philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche and Albert Camus. Throughout his work The Antichrist, Nietzsche delivers an incredibly radical denouncement of Christianity and its values. While in The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus felt significantly less extreme route; he felt as though Christians beliefs must come to a place of agreement with the absurdity of the world. The philosophers do come

Nietzsche does not believe that any form of transcendence is acceptable and places the importance of life on a pedestal. He declares, “In God a declaration of hostility towards life, nature, and the will to live!” (Nietzsche 140). Nietzsche discusses how the carnal desire for power within humans is natural and how humanity must compose our own values. He asserts that since Christianity advocates for humility, therefore it promotes a sense of weakness, the dread of humanity in the eyes of Nietzsche. Nietzsche concludes, “What is good?- All that heightens the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself in man. What is bad?- All the proceeds from weakness” (Nietzsche 127). While on the other hand, Camus is far less radical in his ways of thinking. Rather than presenting his convictions as an impassioned attack, Camus approaches the topic with more of an explanation of the impacts of the Christian ideology. He is not nearly as nihilistic and afterlife denying as Nietzsche. Camus asserts that since we live in a world lacking any form of purpose, one must indulge in the absurdity in order to create values and find their own personal meaning. He states, “There is but one moral code that the absurd man can accept, the one that is not separated from God: the one that is dictated. But it just so happens that he lives outside that God”. (Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus, 546). The topic of transcendence is where Camus mainly disagrees with Nietzsche. n Camus’s words, “It is possible to be Christian and absurd. There are examples of Christians who do not believe in a future life” (Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus, 583). Camus does accept that Christianity is able to give people a feeling of purpose for a sense of stability in an absurd world, however, he feels as though it is an invalid form of escapism that is just providing more