Tuesday, January 15, 2013

7 Minutes Coffee Break with Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) who said, "God is dead", is dead but his words are around. A friend of mine used to be an avid reader of the German philospher, but after studying the Bible (Genesis and John in particular) he became a Christian. The man invited the German atheist (his words with quotation marks) to a coffee table, and exchanged his thoughts with the atheist's.   
  1. “The person lives most beautifully who does not reflect upon existence” - Correct, for we are called to fix our thoughts and eyes on Jesus, the Savior, rather than on my this or my that. And life that lives in and through Jesus the Savior is bound to be beautiful in good times and bad times. 
  2. “Believe me! The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously!” - True in the sense that like Jesus we are to live not to please men, but to please God. And as you live to please God, troubles are bound to come your way.
  3.  “One has to pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while one is still alive”- This is also true for the Apostle Paul said, "Brothers, I die every day." Didn't Jesus also say, "Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow me"?
  4. “You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” - Correct in the sense that all human ways are unvailing as far as life is concerned, for Jesus alone is the Way the Truth and the Life.
  5. “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking” - True. See how many great thoughts came out of the mouth of Jesus while he was still walking with His disciples.
  6. “One ought to hold on to one's heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too.” - True, for it has been proven that heart sends to brain more electro-magnatic signals than brain does to your heart.
  7. “A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us” - True, just as it is written: "In the beginning was the Word".
  8. “The more you let yourself go, the less others let you go” - True. Consider how our Lord Jesus warned his disciples against the yeast (hypocricy) of the Pharisees. The case in point is Matthew a tax collector who after letting himself go, he saw that people (sinners and tax collectors) instead of letting Levi (Matthew) go, came and flocked together with him, eating and drinking, break-dancing, making lots of noise.
  9. “After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands” - True. See the comment on para 8.
  10. “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” - True. God made man in his image, one of which attributes is to hang "what" (we do) on "why" (we do what we do.)
  11. “To forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity.” - True. See the discussion on para 10.
  12. “I still live, I still think: I still have to live, for I still have to think.” - True. God made man in his image. The essence of his image is "thoughts", just as it is written: "The Word was God."

No comments: