Page Range
258-271
Keywords
Nietzsche, Dionysian, Apollonian, Dance, Christian, The Birth of Tragedy
Abstract
Friedrich Nietzsche introduced his philological study of the Ancient Greek's Apollonian and Dionysian duality in his first book, The Birth of Tragedy: Out of the Spirit of Music, in 1872. His interpretation of the two Greek gods underpinned his philosophy of the will to power, the Übermensch, and eternal recurrence throughout his career.
I contend that Nietzsche's philosophy would have a modicum of merit as a metaphor for Greek culture and the German society in which he lived if his underlying assumption about atheism was correct. However, his explicit rejection of Christianity led to a fatal flaw in his reasoning because the Christian God's existence can be rationally defended as the inference to the best explanation in an Apollonian manner. Yet, Christians also experience a Dionysian life-affirming existential encounter with the Living God. Jesus declared, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
Nietzsche proclaimed that he would only believe in a God who can dance. Christianity is both a rational system of beliefs and an exciting encounter with God. Jesus is the Lord of the Dance.
Recommended Citation
Mendoza, Michael S.. 2021. "Nietzsche: Dionysian-Apollonian Lord of the Dance." Eleutheria: John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Academic Journal 5, (2). https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/eleu/vol5/iss2/16
Included in
Christianity Commons, Philosophy Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons