If there is no life after death, no heaven or hell, then all men are indeed "miserable." This is especially true for Christians. This is because they do not live hedonistically, do not indulge in physical and sensual pleasures. But, if there is no future life, no coming judgment, then men are at liberty to do whatever pleases them, or whatever they can get away with, though such kind of living brings misery and consequential evils.
The nihilist philosophy, like similar philosophies, such as existentialism, anarchism, etc., live and act on the principle that "God is dead," and that there is no afterlife, and no coming judgment after death. The meaning of life for such people is to "live in pleasure" (I Tim. 5: 6), to "eat, drink, and be merry" (Luke 12: 19), for they say "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (I Cor. 15: 32), acting on the belief that death is the end of all existence. To such people "nothing matters" except the present life. The point in life is to "enjoy" it as much as possible, taking no thought of what lies beyond the grave.
It is sometimes called Epicureanism, being a form of hedonism, which declares that pleasure is the only good there is. It says that the absence of pain is the greatest pleasure; it also advocates a simple life. Or, it is also called Dionysian (or Bacchus in Roman culture, thus bacchanalia), mostly because of its love of drunken parties, orgies, and other "fun" things. These have always been an enticement to carnal people, and have been a cause for the apostasy of many professed followers of the Lord. Of these the apostles warned against.
Paul wrote of "being drunk, having wild and wasteful parties, and doing other things like these." (Gal. 5: 21)
Peter wrote:
"In the past you wasted too much time doing what nonbelievers enjoy. You were guilty of sexual sins, evil desires, drunkenness, wild and drunken parties, and hateful idol worship. Nonbelievers think it is strange that you do not do the many wild and wasteful things they do, so they insult you." (I Peter 4: 3-4)
This is the kind of world that existed in Genesis chapter six and that brought on the flood that destroyed them all but the elect few. Said our Lord:
"They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." (Luke 17: 27)
They lived nihilistically. They lived as if there were no God, no judgment for sin. It was a life of sinful pleasure. So the record of Genesis says of that people:
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Gen. 6: 5)
Said one writer (here) on nihilism (emphasis mine):
"Jacobi – the accuser - put his finger on the fundamental issue of nihilism. Most religions, many philosophies, and the common beliefs of many people suppose that the source of value is something beyond the individual, beyond humans, beyond the physical world, beyond the natural world. If not God, perhaps a transcendent realm of forms, as Plato thought. Nihilism as an accusation is a challenge: if you don’t believe in God, or something else transcendent and eternal, why does anything matter?"
This has become the thinking of the masses of the population. Even in Christian nations, like the USA, people live as people who think that death is the end and that there is no God and no afterlife. If they do give any credence to the idea of God and the afterlife, they live in the belief that all, or nearly all, will be favorably received by God after death and enjoy "Nirvana." The same author also said:
"And by the time we come to Nietzsche, we have a philosopher embracing nihilism, in a way. He says, God is dead, everything is permitted, and hurray for that."
What kind of life did Nietzsche live? How did he die? That he suffered from psychological illness and depression is well documented. He died of dementia that was brought on, many believe, by syphilis.
Said another (here):
"The proliferation of nihilist memes and thoughts on social media today has meant that viewing reality as fundamentally meaningless has become more widespread than ever before, and has, to some extent, infiltrated day-to-day thinking amongst many of today’s youth."
"Camus would be proud of today’s younger generations, staring into the abyss and laughing."
Said another (See here)
"Nietzsche’s ‘superman,’ the perfection of humanity, would be a nihilist, not bound by inherited ideas, creating his or her own meaning, according to their will."
The philosophy of Nietzsche involved his description of the ideal human and the ideal society. It is anti biblical, anti God, and is in perfect agreement with the teachings of Satan.
The same author also said:
"Nietzsche recognized that developments in philosophy were going to encourage all of us towards nihilism—rationalism, materialism, skepticism, science, and the recognition of cultural relativity. Many philosophers saw this ‘problem’ and many agree that Nietzsche’s predictions were correct, that we have been living through the horrors that he foresaw resulting from nihilism. It would be easy to argue that much of the immorality and pointless violence we see in the world today is partially rooted in nihilism; but, we must then also note that a lot of violence is also caused by the opposite of nihilism—faith in traditional beliefs."
We are truly seeing the effects of nihilistic thinking. It fulfills prophesy.
The same author also stated:
"If 19th century philosophers saw nihilism as an approaching demon, 20th century philosophers saw it as a fact of life and searched for ways to cope with it."
The 19th century philosophers were correct. But, it is true that now, in the 21st century, nihilistic thinking has become a "fact of life." Cope with it? Who can cope with the superabounding lawlessness of our day?
The same author also stated:
"Existentialism, the central philosophy of the 20th century, was certainly nihilistic. And depressingly so for many; existential nihilism focuses on the ultimate meaninglessness of existence. Existentialism taught that there is no objective meaning; but, existentialists also emphasized our freedom to create meaning. And this is where nihilism began to move in a better direction. The existentialists, although often depressed, promoted the idea that we can (in fact must) give life our own meaning."
In the next posting I will talk a little more about "existentialism," but it is clearly nihilistic.
The same author also stated:
"Every version of nihilism (see section five) has been feared by people who felt that without a foundation in objective truth or faith, it is impossible to have morality, life-meaning, or knowledge. However, there are many philosophies, such as secular humanism, Buddhism, and post-modernism which claim that it is possible to develop new and better forms of morality, knowledge, and life-meaning, without reliance on faith, which may be seen as deceptive and limiting."
It is true that nihilistic thinking is without a solid foundation. Further, secular humanism, Buddhism, etc., also provide no reason for living the right kind of life.
The same author also said this about "existential nihilism."
"The philosophy that existence ultimately has no meaning, including no God, no afterlife, and no transcendental domain of any kind. Often thought of as a philosophy of despair."
Because of this, it is no wonder that cynicism, pessimism, hopelessness, misery, etc., reigns.
In "The age of American nihilism" by T. KEITH GURNEE (here), we have these insightful words in regard to the effects of nihilistic thinking today in America and the world:
"In this election year of 2020, America is tearing itself apart. It’s more than the Trump versus Biden election. I’ve never seen this country as divided as it is today, and I went through the sixties! The coronavirus, the resultant lockdowns and their economic repercussions, the repugnant murder of George Floyd, and the social upheavals it spurred have rocked America to its core. With COVID-19 infections continuing, ours is a country in chaos."
The widespread lawlessness, and the evils that accompany it, such as violence and chaos, that we see today, are the result of the masses declaring that "God is dead" and living life in a selfish, animalistic, manner.
Said the author further:
"Today’s heated political discourse seems dominated by “ists.” Whether it be “racist,” “sexist,” “ageist,” “extremist,” these pejorative words are indiscriminately hurled as epithets at anyone who doesn't agree with everything their snarling speakers stand for. For example, anyone who dares say “all lives matter” is immediately branded a racist. But there’s one word that best personifies the purveyors of today’s social unrest. It’s called nihilism."
Amen.
Said the author further:
"Webster’s defines nihilism as “a belief that conditions in a social order are so bad as to make destruction desirable” or “a revolutionary doctrine of destructiveness for its own sake.” The term was derived as a 19th century Russian political philosophy advocating the violent destruction of social and political institutions to make way for a new society."
This is the philosophy of the Nazis under Hitler. It was the philosophy of Stalin, Mao, and is the philosophy of dictators. They were revolutionaries who sought to destroy society in order to remake it. It intends to bring chaos in order to bring order. In all cases, however, the society created was far inferior to the one that was destroyed.
Said the author further:
"We are now living in an age of American nihilism, one that looks like it won’t be ending anytime soon. That prospect tells us that we should all be concerned about the very future of our democracy."
Once we lose our freedoms, such as freedom to practice our religion, we will be forced to believe and act contrary to our religion. When that happens it will be war upon the godly, and upon believers.
Wrote another (here):
"According to Nietzsche, this state of nihilism – the idea that life has no meaning or value – cannot be avoided; we must go through it, as frightening and lonely as that will be."
This philosophy was reflected in the Nazi mind.
The author also said:
"As he writes in Daybreak, God’s “death” removes the threat of divine punishment, leaving us free again both to experiment with different ways to live and to make mistakes along the way. He wants us to seize this opportunity with both hands."
God help us! This being the thinking of the ungodly masses, the judgment of the Almighty is imminent.
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