INTERPRETING NIETZSCHE
SIR,—Mr. Ince-Jones' way of interpreting Nietzsche is a typical example of the very method which I had tried to warn against in my short article. He quotes one of Nietzsche's best known attacks on Christianity and concludes that " the fruits of Nietzsche's philosophy are to be seen in Lidice, Lublin, and Rotterdam." Would it not have been more scholarly, and perhaps more Christian, if Mr. Ince-Jones had tried to understand the reasons which led Nietzsche to denounce Christian doctrines? As I understand the German philosopher, he accused the Church and the priests of having perverted His message. " The whole life of the Christian is ultimately that life from which Christ preached deliverance." (The Will to Power, Vol. r, page 176.) For Christ, whom he called " The most loving of men " (Human All Too Human, part 1, page 346), Nietzsche had a thorough devotion, love and admiration. But he blamed the popularisers of Christianity for a " furtive and hypocritical approach to Christian morality " (Thoughts of the Season, VOL 2, page 112). " There never was more than one Christian and He died on the Cross." (The Twilight of Idols, page 178.) Is this not rather similar to Renan's. saying " It will be better understood how great Jesus was when it has been realised how small were His disciples "? (Histoire des origines du Christianism, Les Apotres, page 56.) Space does not allow me to elaborate his various charges against Christianity in detail. But one is important to mention: Nietzsche accused the Church of collaborating too much with the State. "This is the humorous side of the question—tragic humour: Paul set up on a large scale precisely what Jesus had overthrown by His life. At last when the Church edifice was complete, it even sanctioned the existence of the State." (The Will to Power, Vol. I, page 138.) Hitler's attitude is exactly the reverse. His main accusation against the Catholic doctrine is that it is not sufficiently German. (Mein Kampf, page 117.) Nietzsche, admittedly, declared the Priests his enemies. But he warns his dis- ciples: " These are Priests ; but although they are mine enemies, pass them quietly and with sleeping swords." (Thus Spake Zarathustra, page 142.) It just is beyond me to see how anybody can really see in this the philosophy responsible for Lidice, Lublin, and Rotterdam.—
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