Is God Dead?

Many modern philosophers and scientists have denied the existence of God. But few became so derisive of God and the Christian value system as the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. He was born on October 15, 1844, and died on August 25, 1900. He is widely known for his nihilistic philosophy, his notion that “God is dead,” and his idea of the overman or superman that inspired the Nazi regime.

The notion that “God is dead” permeates much of Nietzsche’s writings. For example, in his book The Gay Science (1882), he stated, “Gods too decompose. God is dead, God remains dead. And we have killed him.” In the famous work Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), he added, “Dead are all the Gods: now do we desire the Superman to live.” And in his Ecce Homo (1888), he mocked the biblical Creation-Fall account (Genesis 1–3), saying, “It was God himself who at the end of his great work, coiled himself up in the form of a serpent at the foot of the tree of knowledge. It was thus that he recovered from being a God. . . . The devil is simply God’s moment of idleness, on that seventh day.” When Nietzsche declared that “God is dead,” he was not implying that God had once existed and later died in a literal sense. His point was that God never existed, and with the Enlightenment, all Christian absolute moral principles and values collapsed.

In his view, life has no intrinsic meaning, purpose, or value —a notion that has played a major role in eroding the moral values of society.

In a time when many deny the existence of God, there are still sensible people who keep their confidence in Him. The story is told of Billy Graham being challenged by someone who said, “Billy, you talk very much about God as if He lives.

He is dead. He has no more power in the affairs of men.” Billy simply replied, “I do not know of His death. I spoke to Him this morning.” Can we prove the existence of God? No, we cannot prove or disprove it. But we have plenty of evidence for belief in Him. As testified by King David, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). And God Himself challenges us, “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?” (Isaiah 40:26, NIV).

God is not dead; He is very alive and cares for each one of us, even those who deny His existence.