Nietzsche and Relativism

A lot of the world's moral problems can be traced back to relativism. The Oxford English dictionary defines relativism as "The doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute." Relativism is the new truth, the prevailing ideology across the public education systems and modern life in general.

Relativism allows justification for all manner of evils. It blurs the lines of morality and personality. If someone does not "feel" that what they are doing is wrong, than it must not be wrong.  Relativism is the ultimate expression of individualism. It gives the individual unlimited power: the power to decide its own good and evil.

But truth is not "feeling." Truth is not conventional. It is not convenient. Truth is.

The fact that one person believes a ball is orange and another believes it is red does not change the reality that it is in fact blue.

The simplest definition of truth is this: God is truth. God in His ineffable wisdom has decided what truth is. He alone determines good and evil. It is the height of folly to believe we have the power to make that determination ourselves.

God says that marriage is between a man and a woman: "male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27). He says that life begins at conception: "before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I dedicated you," (Jeremiah 1:5). Disordered desire cannot change the truth of marriage. We cannot project our own imperfections upon an eternal institution founded by God. A litany of denial cannot erase the truth that life begins at conception. There is no justification for murder, and abortion is just that.

So where did the world go wrong? How is it that truth has been forgotten and stomped upon? Of course, all sin and disorder can be traced back to the Original Fall of man from Eden. But the misconceptions of relativism have only seemed to get stronger and stronger in recent decades. A large part of this movement can be traced back to the school of thought characterized by one man: Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche was a philosopher at the turn of the twentieth century. He was an ardent and outspoken atheist and cynic. His work is best summed up in a single book: Thus Spoke Zarathustra.  This book mocks the rhetorical style of the Bible to further Nietzsche's views. He was a heavy proponent of relativism. He stressed the importance of the individual will and selfishness. He believed that the greatest good was oneself. For Nietzsche, there was no truth. "'This- is now my way- where is yours?' thus I answered those who asked me 'the way.' For the way- that does not exist!" (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Book III, On the Spirit of Gravity )

The only way we can respond to these existential lies is to follow THE truth. We must counter falsehoods with the unity of God-given truth.

To learn the truth, we must study the Scriptures and the works of the Saints. We must gird ourselves with the righteousness of God's truth.

Deus Volt!