The Anti-Christ

By Friedrich Nietzsche and H.L. Mencken

This is Nietzsche's last book and a fitting capstone to his career. It's succinct, biting, and encapsulates the criticisms of Christianity found in his other works. This edition contains an 8,000-word introduction by its translator, the famous iconoclastic writer H. L. Mencken.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Independent Publishers Group
• Release date: Dec 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781937276911

Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) was an acclaimed German philosopher who rose to prominence during the late nineteenth century. His work provides a thorough examination of societal norms often rooted in religion and politics. As a cultural critic, Nietzsche is affiliated with nihilism and individualism with a primary focus on personal development. His most notable books include The Birth of Tragedy, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. and Beyond Good and Evil. Nietzsche is frequently credited with contemporary teachings of psychology and sociology.

Reviews for The Anti-Christ

[gottfried_leibniz-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As a devout Christian,
I had very high expectations from this book.
I was surprised to learn that Nietzsche was not anti-semitic, that was something I learnt from this book.
He likes Buddhism better than Christianity. "Buddhism, I repeat is a hundred times colder, more truthful, more objective."
He goes on to attack the origin of Jewish concept of God, concept of sin, psychology of Christians, gospels.
He says,"Christian is the hatred of the intellect, of pride, of courage, of freedom and senses."
Indeed, I felt really funny reading this and I am in a better mood.

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Tal van knappe inzichten die intussen gemeengoed zijn geworden. Toch blijft hij met zijn religiekritiek steken in secundaire kwesties.

[maxernst11 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Tal van knappe inzichten die intussen gemeengoed zijn geworden. Toch blijft hij met zijn religiekritiek steken in secundaire kwesties.

[hadriantheblind · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An intense and damning work - one not to be caught reading in public where I live.

A fearsome, angry, snarl against Christianity, as it was at the time. Rails and rambles against the decadence and nihilism of Christianity, of weakness, of parasitism, of the promise of eternal life, the corruption of the Church and priesthood, and of the evils justified by religion. It is a means for which the weak can resent and dominate or refuse the strong, or the ways of the world, as he says.

As for Jesus? A misguided redeemer, who promised "The kingdom of god is within you", and perhaps the only true Christian.

This is not exactly a book one can read, and put aside, and say, "That was interesting. On to the next one." It stays with you - as madness or as a spark of genius.

As a side note, my copy was translated by H. L. Mencken, also famous for his acidic style and critique of American religion. A funny historical coincidence.

Recommended for Hyperboreans.

[tullius22 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is possible to see this as too aristocratic. After all, 'Or can any teach God knowledge? Seeing as he judges those which are high.' But for all that, here is hot fury and cold steel, and it cuts deep...And, of course, it would be easy to draw facile comparisons between him and the 'New Atheists'--Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris--and it's been done; but that's just comparing children with a grown-up. Each one of them is--Smart Like A Moron! Though I suppose they're sure clever, since stupid people say so. After all, it's not like the Pharisees and the dictionary freaks (of monkish habit) are going to find the answer. They're as lost as Hitler!And, if anyone's wondering, Was Nietzsche German? I doubt it. Indeed, it was his cross to be so surrounded by the plague of Victorian Germanic-Teutonic introverted losers which had so infected and deformed the Europe of his day. Far more real of an infection than whatever dream of "Eastern Jews" that the Nazis used to fret of...like wrestlers with the sensibilities of snobs: "Eastern Jews! (Uneducated)!" Yet those old German military-academic scientists were really 'life unworthy of life', as the Nazis used to say. God! useless weak people, always trying to bully everyone. Like one of those two-and-a-half pound dogs that always wants to fight...Although I like the ones that are too grand to fight even better. They go through life with their eyes safely shut, and they if they provoke you, they'll never admit it, because their eyes are too weak to see you or your concerns, their eyes are too weak to even see their feet, although at least they have their conceit, even if they are too fat to reach their feet. And too grand, of course, to even want to. But whatever fools say, there is never anything wrong with wanting to be a little noble, no matter how low-born you are. So let them say of thee, that he, 'adventured his life far'. Or else is she, 'wild for to hold, though I seem tame'. But what do they know of life, who live as the dead? So rest in your conceit, Christians, for your sin rests on you. For, after all, they have no sense of correctness, only of conceit, and the privilege of little lords who are too lazy to do any work: so what is more weak than that? And jealousy of anything capable of real kindness and generosity: did they think that this too would go unnoticed? But, come, let us not disturb the moral invalids--the ethically feeble, more vexed by slights to their cloistered names and parochial words, than to the sorrows of the people and catastrophes of the others--let them rest in their sins, for their sins rest in them. (9/10)

[uh8myzen_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I found Friedrich Nietzsche when I was still in high school, and have been a huge fan ever since. Sadly, he is one of the most misunderstood and maligned thinkers, but stands as a huge influence on so much of modern thought. Nietzsche is not only a philosopher who is easy to read, but he is a joy to read. He is ecstatically involved in his thought and passes that ecstasy on the reader. I have always drawn strength from his work, and return to it often.