Leo D.M.J. Aurini - Nietzsche & the New Testament Part 2： Going Over or Under

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00:00:28.000 This is the second part

00:00:31.860 of the video requested by

00:00:33.860 Mr. Davis, contrasting

00:00:35.660 Nietzsche's work with the New Testament.

00:00:38.860 In the previous

00:00:39.980 video, we covered the

00:00:41.380 background that

00:00:43.280 Aristotelian Platonic philosophy, as well

00:00:45.900 as the theological development

00:00:47.520 that's been going on over the millennia

00:00:49.680 that set the stage so that you can understand

00:00:52.080 where Nietzsche is coming from.

00:00:53.860 In this video, we will actually

00:00:55.900 consider Nietzsche's work itself.

00:00:59.620 One of the major themes running

00:01:01.680 throughout Thus Spoke

00:01:03.440 Serathustra, in fact in much

00:01:05.720 of Nietzsche's writing, was

00:01:07.560 the eternal reoccurrence.

00:01:12.060 You see, there's two ways

00:01:13.500 of interpreting history.

00:01:16.160 The original way, going back

00:01:17.760 to the Sumerian gods

00:01:19.940 that I was talking about in the previous video,

00:01:21.980 it is the cyclic

00:01:24.520 understanding of history.

00:01:26.200 The eternal reoccurrence

00:01:28.680 that Nietzsche is talking

00:01:30.420 about there.

00:01:32.080 And most primitive peoples,

00:01:33.920 most primitive tribes,

00:01:34.980 this is how they understood things.

00:01:36.380 The cycle of the seasons,

00:01:37.980 the cycle of the generations.

00:01:39.800 Same story over and over again.

00:01:42.480 The wheel in the sky

00:01:44.260 keeps on turning.

00:01:45.200 The alternative view

00:01:48.540 is the progressive,

00:01:51.060 the linear understanding

00:01:52.820 of history.

00:01:54.180 And this is what we start to see

00:01:55.480 with the patriarchal religions.

00:01:59.060 The idea of a direction

00:02:01.760 that things are going.

00:02:04.300 A purpose.

00:02:05.860 The development of science.

00:02:07.680 The advancement of society.

00:02:09.440 These are all very progressive,

00:02:11.620 linear concepts.

00:02:13.000 Now, both views of history

00:02:16.220 are a little bit myopic

00:02:17.960 in their own way.

00:02:19.600 And, in my opinion,

00:02:20.920 I would argue

00:02:21.660 that the correct view of history

00:02:22.820 requires both.

00:02:23.800 That you recognize,

00:02:24.980 you recognize the sine wave.

00:02:26.860 The cycle that's going on.

00:02:29.480 But at the same time,

00:02:30.220 you don't degrade humanity

00:02:32.000 to just another part

00:02:33.220 of the animal kingdom

00:02:34.140 that does the same thing

00:02:35.540 over and over again.

00:02:38.100 Bound and cursed

00:02:39.840 into eternally repeating itself.

00:02:43.000 Now, when Nietzsche talks

00:02:45.520 about the eternal recurrence,

00:02:47.160 I don't believe

00:02:47.800 that's what he's doing.

00:02:50.060 He's protesting.

00:02:51.600 At the time,

00:02:52.120 the Christianity

00:02:52.840 had very much embraced

00:02:55.080 this purely linear thought

00:02:56.860 of the direction

00:02:57.980 that time was going.

00:03:00.580 They did not think

00:03:01.960 about the cycles.

00:03:02.900 They did not admit

00:03:03.660 their animal nature.

00:03:05.200 And the great irony being

00:03:07.400 because they absolutely refused

00:03:09.780 to admit that they were animals,

00:03:11.340 that there were cycles,

00:03:12.380 that there is

00:03:12.820 the eternal recurrence.

00:03:14.360 This is what curses them

00:03:16.120 to do exactly that.

00:03:19.040 It's the thing

00:03:19.780 that you're completely unaware of

00:03:21.300 that's going to trump you up.

00:03:24.560 And so when Nietzsche talks

00:03:25.700 about embracing

00:03:26.720 the eternal recurrence,

00:03:29.360 it's about embracing your life.

00:03:32.200 About embracing the fact

00:03:33.640 that, yeah,

00:03:34.120 you do live here in time

00:03:36.560 with cycles,

00:03:37.900 with hungers,

00:03:38.880 with needs,

00:03:39.860 and loving every minute of it.

00:03:44.640 And so it's from the eternal

00:03:46.920 reoccurrence

00:03:48.300 that we get

00:03:50.120 the will to power.

00:03:54.660 Now, at this point,

00:03:56.080 I'd like to start splitting in

00:03:58.240 that the two people

00:03:59.400 that Nietzsche is talking to,

00:04:01.480 the two groups

00:04:02.460 that misinterpret him,

00:04:04.060 on the one hand,

00:04:06.600 you have the materialist Christians,

00:04:09.620 the churchians,

00:04:10.920 as we call them nowadays,

00:04:13.140 the church that he is so frustrated

00:04:16.240 and angry with.

00:04:18.040 On the other side,

00:04:20.080 you've got the atheists,

00:04:21.700 the ones that are living

00:04:22.640 purely hedonistically

00:04:23.840 that have abandoned all value.

00:04:26.320 And to look at how

00:04:27.120 he's shouting at both sides

00:04:29.660 at the same time

00:04:30.520 and how both of them

00:04:32.120 are completely getting him wrong.

00:04:36.180 The will to power.

00:04:38.960 The will to power

00:04:40.060 is all about

00:04:40.960 loving your own life.

00:04:43.260 It's about living life

00:04:44.880 to the fullest.

00:04:47.640 And so Nietzsche would say

00:04:48.840 that the churchians,

00:04:51.080 they're completely abandoning

00:04:52.940 the will to power.

00:04:54.340 See, the will to power

00:04:55.100 requires courage.

00:04:56.500 It requires that you go out

00:04:57.600 in the world

00:04:58.100 and possibly fail.

00:04:59.700 It demands that you learn

00:05:02.300 and that you think

00:05:03.720 and that you risk things

00:05:05.540 because you're actually

00:05:06.640 aiming for something.

00:05:09.320 See, you've got

00:05:09.760 the eternal reoccurrence,

00:05:12.260 but the will to power

00:05:13.380 is directional.

00:05:15.000 It is moving towards

00:05:17.540 a goal.

00:05:20.060 The hedonist, mind you,

00:05:22.360 the atheist,

00:05:23.660 hears the will to power

00:05:24.980 and all they have

00:05:27.480 is the will

00:05:28.820 to lust,

00:05:29.940 the will to sate

00:05:31.180 their lusts

00:05:32.640 with no long-term plan,

00:05:34.360 no ultimate goal,

00:05:35.700 in complete absence

00:05:36.860 of any and all

00:05:38.600 values.

00:05:41.520 The churchian

00:05:42.740 completely denies

00:05:43.840 the world.

00:05:44.900 They live

00:05:45.600 like an ascet.

00:05:47.160 They don't engage,

00:05:49.000 they don't really live.

00:05:50.240 The hedonist,

00:05:53.320 on the other hand,

00:05:54.980 lives entirely

00:05:55.980 in the material world

00:05:57.200 and refuses

00:05:58.720 to embrace

00:05:59.440 anything higher.

00:06:03.340 Now, on my website,

00:06:05.180 the subtitle

00:06:07.200 of Stairs to the World

00:06:08.400 is a quote

00:06:09.560 from the Gospel of Thomas,

00:06:11.400 which goes that

00:06:12.760 the kingdom of heaven

00:06:14.420 is everywhere

00:06:16.620 upon the earth,

00:06:18.680 but men see it not.

00:06:21.240 That people aren't

00:06:22.840 truly living life.

00:06:25.000 They are,

00:06:26.520 either they're a slave

00:06:27.600 to their passion

00:06:28.420 or they're

00:06:30.340 fleeing

00:06:31.060 from reality.

00:06:33.920 And they don't see

00:06:35.100 the beauty

00:06:36.000 and the potential

00:06:36.820 that you can have

00:06:38.040 living your own life.

00:06:39.580 Understanding the will

00:06:40.560 to power,

00:06:41.140 understanding that

00:06:41.920 you're a part of the world

00:06:42.940 and pursuing

00:06:44.840 self-improvement,

00:06:46.640 pursuing betterment,

00:06:47.680 pursuing beauty,

00:06:49.040 pursuing magic.

00:06:50.240 people ignored

00:06:53.060 in so many ways.

00:06:57.760 And C.S. Lewis,

00:06:58.680 he heavily

00:06:59.840 criticized Christians

00:07:01.380 for this.

00:07:02.980 In his book,

00:07:05.260 The Screwtape Letters,

00:07:06.720 one of the things

00:07:07.320 he talked about

00:07:08.100 was where were you

00:07:09.460 focused time-wise.

00:07:11.260 Now,

00:07:12.900 the devils

00:07:13.860 in his book,

00:07:15.540 the devils want,

00:07:16.680 ideally,

00:07:17.920 they want you

00:07:18.540 focused upon

00:07:19.840 the past,

00:07:21.700 upon what's

00:07:22.580 already happened.

00:07:23.200 They want you

00:07:23.820 reminiscing about

00:07:24.900 better times

00:07:25.720 or feeling bitter

00:07:26.860 about times

00:07:27.620 you were slighted.

00:07:28.740 They want you

00:07:29.360 dwelling on things.

00:07:31.080 Instead of

00:07:31.720 dealing with the present,

00:07:33.220 instead of coping,

00:07:34.000 instead of moving forward,

00:07:34.980 they want you to

00:07:35.620 dwell on the past,

00:07:37.400 ideally.

00:07:37.840 if they can't

00:07:41.120 get you to dwell

00:07:41.640 on the past,

00:07:42.660 what they love to do

00:07:43.780 is get you to dwell

00:07:45.420 in the future,

00:07:47.780 is to think about

00:07:49.280 all the exciting

00:07:50.120 things you're going

00:07:50.800 to do,

00:07:51.160 is think about

00:07:51.540 where you're headed,

00:07:52.660 dream about

00:07:53.240 the next vacation.

00:07:55.320 And while the future

00:07:56.100 is a little bit better

00:07:57.080 than dwelling on the past,

00:07:58.240 since the future

00:07:59.080 challenges you

00:08:00.580 to do things,

00:08:01.860 it's how am I going

00:08:02.740 to get to that point

00:08:03.900 in my life.

00:08:05.700 Ultimately,

00:08:06.280 it's still just

00:08:06.880 daydreaming

00:08:07.560 because the past

00:08:09.580 doesn't exist anymore.

00:08:10.940 It happened already.

00:08:12.180 The future

00:08:12.720 is just imaginary.

00:08:15.620 Where you should

00:08:16.460 be spending

00:08:17.020 most of your time

00:08:17.920 is in the present.

00:08:19.240 You should be mindful

00:08:20.200 of what you're doing

00:08:21.260 today,

00:08:22.040 right now,

00:08:22.960 where you're going,

00:08:24.740 what you are doing.

00:08:26.080 You should be

00:08:26.720 loving and embracing

00:08:28.220 your own life.

00:08:29.220 And again,

00:08:31.760 this is the will

00:08:32.860 to power.

00:08:33.540 It's living

00:08:33.980 in the present.

00:08:36.260 Accepting the

00:08:36.880 eternal recurrence

00:08:37.900 and the long-term

00:08:39.280 direction where

00:08:39.880 things are going,

00:08:40.540 but living

00:08:41.080 in the presence.

00:08:43.060 Loving your own life.

00:08:45.340 Not

00:08:45.740 abandoning

00:08:47.580 yourself away.

00:08:48.180 Not engaging

00:08:49.260 in

00:08:50.520 drug abuse

00:08:51.980 and opiate abuse

00:08:53.060 to distract

00:08:53.840 yourself from

00:08:54.500 the fact that

00:08:55.000 you're alive.

00:08:56.820 At the same time,

00:08:58.220 not looking

00:09:00.420 forward

00:09:01.120 to heaven,

00:09:03.140 but finding

00:09:04.680 heaven

00:09:05.040 in the present,

00:09:06.660 in the world

00:09:07.460 as it is.

00:09:10.080 Nietzsche would say

00:09:10.740 these Christians

00:09:12.000 that he was seeing,

00:09:13.640 they were living

00:09:15.080 in the future.

00:09:16.960 They were imagining

00:09:17.600 their salvation.

00:09:18.540 They were imagining

00:09:19.020 going to heaven,

00:09:20.780 thinking about that,

00:09:21.820 rather than living

00:09:22.800 in the present.

00:09:26.600 Which leads

00:09:27.600 to the next point.

00:09:30.820 The next

00:09:31.700 great quote

00:09:32.620 that's

00:09:33.160 often

00:09:34.020 misinterpreted.

00:09:37.640 Nietzsche

00:09:38.160 and the death

00:09:38.640 of God.

00:09:41.860 Now,

00:09:42.440 when Nietzsche

00:09:42.820 talks about

00:09:43.360 the death

00:09:43.700 of God,

00:09:45.160 he's talking

00:09:46.280 about our

00:09:46.600 conception of God.

00:09:48.560 God is dead

00:09:49.460 and we have

00:09:50.920 killed him.

00:09:51.440 Now,

00:09:54.780 think about

00:09:55.200 these

00:09:55.620 Churchians

00:09:56.560 for a moment.

00:09:57.560 These Churchians

00:09:58.060 that aren't

00:09:58.560 living in the present,

00:09:59.480 but instead

00:09:59.900 are living

00:10:01.300 in the future.

00:10:03.140 These Churchians,

00:10:03.660 one big thing

00:10:04.440 you find nowadays

00:10:05.180 is this

00:10:06.060 statement

00:10:07.320 of being

00:10:08.940 saved.

00:10:10.720 I am

00:10:11.540 saved.

00:10:15.640 Now,

00:10:16.200 C.S. Lewis

00:10:16.680 wrote about this

00:10:17.420 again.

00:10:18.780 And he wrote

00:10:19.700 about how

00:10:20.200 there comes

00:10:21.160 an element.

00:10:21.620 And he says,

00:10:22.040 you know,

00:10:22.280 I'm very

00:10:22.880 hesitant

00:10:23.240 to even

00:10:23.880 mention this

00:10:24.680 because

00:10:25.360 mentioning it

00:10:26.420 is almost

00:10:27.480 blasphemy.

00:10:29.140 But there

00:10:29.860 comes a point

00:10:30.700 when you've

00:10:32.180 been

00:10:32.540 faithful

00:10:34.220 for long

00:10:34.660 enough,

00:10:34.860 when you've

00:10:35.160 been engaged

00:10:35.640 in enough

00:10:36.040 self-improvement,

00:10:37.220 where you've

00:10:37.640 been catching

00:10:38.280 yourself as

00:10:39.100 you sin,

00:10:40.520 that you

00:10:40.880 realize

00:10:41.500 that you're

00:10:42.620 still a sinner.

00:10:43.540 You still

00:10:43.920 screw up

00:10:44.600 all the time.

00:10:45.920 And yet,

00:10:46.560 you're

00:10:48.300 on the

00:10:48.580 upswing.

00:10:50.860 I liken

00:10:51.400 it to

00:10:52.360 hyperbolic

00:10:54.280 equations.

00:10:56.540 You see,

00:10:57.040 a hyperbolic

00:10:57.800 mathematical

00:10:58.340 equation,

00:10:59.320 if you draw

00:10:59.780 it on a

00:11:00.100 graph,

00:11:00.800 they have

00:11:01.400 asymptotes.

00:11:04.600 So the

00:11:05.460 asymptote

00:11:06.180 will be a

00:11:06.740 horizontal line,

00:11:07.600 for instance.

00:11:08.680 You'll get

00:11:09.060 this equation

00:11:09.960 that's always

00:11:10.880 increasing,

00:11:13.020 but never

00:11:13.820 hits that

00:11:14.660 line.

00:11:14.980 The closer

00:11:15.940 you get

00:11:16.200 to infinity,

00:11:16.900 the closer

00:11:17.280 they get

00:11:17.620 together,

00:11:18.040 but it

00:11:18.260 never

00:11:18.540 hits that

00:11:19.160 line.

00:11:21.360 And that's

00:11:21.800 most people,

00:11:22.560 that's our

00:11:22.820 default state,

00:11:23.760 that's us

00:11:24.160 living as

00:11:25.480 the animals

00:11:26.160 that Nietzsche

00:11:27.340 talks about.

00:11:29.300 But when

00:11:29.940 you've been

00:11:30.240 correcting yourself,

00:11:31.180 when you've

00:11:31.400 been living

00:11:31.720 in the

00:11:31.980 present,

00:11:32.720 when you've

00:11:33.040 been loving

00:11:33.400 life,

00:11:34.300 when you've

00:11:34.640 been accepting

00:11:35.800 the reality

00:11:36.560 of being an

00:11:37.580 animal,

00:11:38.220 and yet being

00:11:38.700 more than an

00:11:39.260 animal,

00:11:40.280 when you

00:11:40.700 start doing

00:11:41.120 that for

00:11:41.520 long enough,

00:11:42.620 you realize

00:11:43.760 that you're

00:11:44.620 asymptote,

00:11:46.520 you are

00:11:47.120 going to

00:11:47.520 break through

00:11:48.300 that barrier.

00:11:50.140 It's impossible,

00:11:51.480 it's magical,

00:11:53.360 but it's

00:11:53.800 going to

00:11:54.160 happen.

00:11:56.340 And yet it's

00:11:56.800 the sort of

00:11:57.160 thing you

00:11:57.420 should never

00:11:57.780 say,

00:11:59.340 any more

00:11:59.840 than Nietzsche

00:12:01.100 would claim

00:12:01.820 to be an

00:12:03.400 ubermensch.

00:12:04.700 It's one of

00:12:05.320 those high

00:12:05.900 mystical things.

00:12:07.440 It's this gut

00:12:08.120 feeling, but you

00:12:08.840 still recognize

00:12:09.860 that you're a

00:12:10.900 sinner, you

00:12:11.280 still recognize

00:12:12.020 that you're a

00:12:13.000 broken, terrible

00:12:14.160 person that

00:12:14.860 needs to get

00:12:15.720 better, that

00:12:17.000 you're not

00:12:17.880 good enough

00:12:18.880 yet.

00:12:21.920 That, I

00:12:22.580 think, was

00:12:22.860 the original

00:12:23.400 idea behind

00:12:24.840 being saved.

00:12:28.020 And yet the

00:12:28.780 people that say

00:12:29.480 I am saved,

00:12:31.200 I am in the

00:12:31.820 grace of God,

00:12:33.360 they're putting

00:12:34.080 that in the

00:12:34.680 past.

00:12:35.740 They're putting

00:12:36.220 that in I

00:12:38.080 am saved, I

00:12:39.020 don't have to

00:12:39.540 self-improve

00:12:40.160 anymore.

00:12:40.540 It's a very

00:12:41.220 arrogant

00:12:41.700 statement.

00:12:42.220 It's like

00:12:42.420 screaming that

00:12:42.900 I am the

00:12:44.360 ubermensch.

00:12:46.360 The real

00:12:46.980 ubermensch does

00:12:47.560 not say that

00:12:48.340 they are the

00:12:48.740 ubermensch.

00:12:49.840 They are just

00:12:50.520 living that

00:12:51.380 life that's

00:12:52.140 constantly improving,

00:12:53.300 that's constantly

00:12:53.980 getting better.

00:12:56.040 They're living

00:12:56.500 joyously, they're

00:12:57.220 living in the

00:12:57.640 moment.

00:12:58.880 They're not

00:12:59.240 justifying their

00:12:59.960 actions based

00:13:00.560 upon the past.

00:13:02.220 And they get

00:13:03.920 this sense that

00:13:04.720 every moment of

00:13:05.460 their life is

00:13:06.140 the life they're

00:13:06.680 living, that

00:13:07.420 there's the

00:13:08.080 eternal

00:13:08.360 reoccurrence.

00:13:10.520 Philosophically,

00:13:11.120 they would be

00:13:11.960 willing to live

00:13:12.640 their entire

00:13:13.220 life over

00:13:14.320 again, ad

00:13:16.580 infinitum.

00:13:18.180 That is the

00:13:19.120 heaven that they

00:13:19.760 seek.

00:13:20.160 That is all the

00:13:21.380 heaven that they

00:13:22.860 need.

00:13:26.020 But the

00:13:26.660 churchian, he

00:13:27.660 puts that in the

00:13:28.400 past, I am

00:13:29.360 saved.

00:13:31.740 And so what is

00:13:32.320 this God that

00:13:33.660 the churchian

00:13:34.260 worships?

00:13:36.100 This God is

00:13:37.040 one that gives

00:13:37.920 him rules, that

00:13:38.940 gives him morality,

00:13:40.420 the Christian

00:13:41.280 morality that

00:13:42.420 Nietzsche was

00:13:43.000 so critical

00:13:44.040 of.

00:13:45.700 Now, some

00:13:46.320 basic societal

00:13:47.120 rules, some

00:13:47.740 basic morality

00:13:48.500 is a bloody

00:13:49.000 good idea.

00:13:50.040 That is the

00:13:50.800 training wheels

00:13:51.740 that people

00:13:52.600 need to live

00:13:53.720 by to get

00:13:55.140 better, to

00:13:56.420 train themselves.

00:13:57.860 But the

00:13:58.600 Christians that

00:13:59.720 Nietzsche was

00:14:00.260 seeing, they

00:14:02.400 were just

00:14:02.780 coasting through

00:14:03.480 life, leaning

00:14:04.660 on their

00:14:05.820 training wheels,

00:14:06.580 and never

00:14:07.360 thinking.

00:14:09.100 In the past, I

00:14:10.880 am saved.

00:14:12.260 In the present, I

00:14:13.980 blindly obey the

00:14:15.700 rules of God.

00:14:16.960 In the future, I

00:14:18.640 get heaven.

00:14:20.080 And so I don't

00:14:21.020 have to think.

00:14:22.260 I do not have to

00:14:23.120 be aware or

00:14:24.520 thoughtful about

00:14:25.600 what I'm doing in

00:14:26.420 the present.

00:14:27.380 It's an

00:14:27.900 abandonment of

00:14:29.080 thought.

00:14:29.680 It's an

00:14:29.920 abandonment of

00:14:31.520 the self, and

00:14:35.280 it's worshipping a

00:14:36.040 dead God.

00:14:38.600 When Nietzsche

00:14:39.300 says, we've

00:14:39.860 killed God, that's

00:14:40.560 the God we've

00:14:41.640 killed.

00:14:43.320 Not the God of

00:14:44.940 the New Testament

00:14:45.660 that said, you

00:14:46.940 don't need the

00:14:47.860 rules.

00:14:48.880 You don't need

00:14:50.020 the training

00:14:50.560 wheels to ride

00:14:51.280 your bike.

00:14:52.080 What you need

00:14:52.680 to do is ride

00:14:53.300 your bike.

00:14:54.960 And hey, I'm

00:14:55.840 going to bleed on

00:14:56.360 the cross for

00:14:56.980 you so that you

00:14:58.220 can do that.

00:14:58.800 so that you

00:15:00.240 can be

00:15:01.240 impossibly more

00:15:02.660 than you are.

00:15:04.240 So you can

00:15:04.620 use this

00:15:05.300 ridiculous side

00:15:07.060 effect of

00:15:07.660 centripetal motion

00:15:08.520 that a two-wheeled

00:15:09.760 motorcycle can

00:15:10.980 actually go down

00:15:11.760 the highway.

00:15:13.860 No, they're

00:15:14.520 leaning on their

00:15:15.660 training wheels.

00:15:16.320 They're not

00:15:16.620 thinking.

00:15:17.320 They are living

00:15:18.120 purely by an

00:15:20.120 objective, measured

00:15:21.780 morality, not

00:15:23.500 reaching up to

00:15:24.160 the higher.

00:15:28.800 contrasting them

00:15:30.580 are the

00:15:32.300 atheists.

00:15:33.440 The atheists

00:15:34.360 who laugh at

00:15:37.200 this dead God

00:15:38.040 that the

00:15:38.320 Christians

00:15:38.640 worship, who

00:15:40.860 live doing

00:15:42.140 whatever they

00:15:42.620 want.

00:15:43.740 But these

00:15:44.240 atheists have

00:15:45.520 abandoned all

00:15:46.340 value in the

00:15:47.160 process.

00:15:48.820 They live purely

00:15:49.960 hedonistically.

00:15:50.840 They live purely

00:15:51.940 for the animal

00:15:52.980 desires as

00:15:54.620 opposed to

00:15:55.140 anything grander.

00:15:56.280 they are just

00:15:58.940 as dead as

00:16:00.760 the Churchians

00:16:01.420 are.

00:16:02.240 They are just

00:16:03.060 as unaware.

00:16:05.300 You know, you've

00:16:05.660 got this radical

00:16:06.940 religion that was

00:16:07.980 all about overcoming

00:16:09.240 yourself, and

00:16:10.920 both groups are

00:16:12.940 living like

00:16:13.400 animals.

00:16:14.420 One's a slave to

00:16:16.380 the rules.

00:16:17.300 The other is a

00:16:18.100 slave to their

00:16:19.260 desires.

00:16:21.940 And overcoming

00:16:22.940 yourself, this is

00:16:23.680 the next point.

00:16:24.480 going over,

00:16:27.580 overcoming, the

00:16:29.480 ubermensch, the

00:16:30.400 overman.

00:16:31.260 This is a

00:16:31.680 constant theme

00:16:32.840 throughout Nietzsche's

00:16:34.860 writing.

00:16:36.140 You know, you've

00:16:36.540 got the eternal

00:16:37.300 reoccurrence, the

00:16:40.060 cyclic history.

00:16:40.980 Yes, you are part

00:16:41.800 of the universe.

00:16:42.640 Yes, you are part

00:16:43.800 animal.

00:16:45.180 And yet he's

00:16:45.880 also writing about

00:16:47.460 overcoming, about

00:16:50.700 walking the

00:16:51.940 tightrope over

00:16:53.020 the abyss, about

00:16:54.220 being more than

00:16:55.120 you were, about

00:16:56.560 this impossible,

00:16:58.640 magical, joyous

00:17:00.340 form of living

00:17:01.680 that is out

00:17:04.160 there.

00:17:05.960 And you tell

00:17:06.860 me, folks, is

00:17:08.480 that not the

00:17:09.200 same sort of

00:17:10.000 principle that

00:17:11.360 Christ was talking

00:17:12.160 about with

00:17:12.620 salvation, about

00:17:14.400 overcoming the

00:17:15.640 sins of the

00:17:16.120 past, about

00:17:16.660 being more than

00:17:17.780 just an animal?

00:17:18.460 the good and

00:17:21.080 evil that

00:17:22.780 Nietzsche talks

00:17:23.400 about, overcoming

00:17:24.560 good and evil.

00:17:25.240 He talks about

00:17:25.700 the cycle of

00:17:27.700 good and evil.

00:17:29.460 And there's

00:17:30.240 very much, these

00:17:30.760 are allusions to

00:17:31.660 Zoroastrianism, which

00:17:33.680 unlike Judaism,

00:17:35.380 unlike Christianity,

00:17:36.880 Zoroastrianism is a

00:17:38.600 religion that talks

00:17:39.340 about the good and

00:17:40.440 the evil forces being

00:17:42.180 equal opposites,

00:17:44.000 as opposed to

00:17:47.200 Christianity,

00:17:48.720 Judaism, where

00:17:50.140 good is the

00:17:51.660 fundamental nature

00:17:52.620 of reality, and

00:17:53.980 evil is just a

00:17:55.820 twisting, a

00:17:56.880 perversion of

00:17:58.840 that fundamental

00:17:59.540 nature.

00:18:02.760 Zoroastrianism has

00:18:03.720 a lot in common

00:18:04.920 with these old

00:18:06.020 forms of paganism

00:18:07.040 that we find,

00:18:08.140 where good and

00:18:09.620 evil, anger,

00:18:11.380 love, etc., it's

00:18:12.380 all part of this

00:18:13.520 endless cycle

00:18:14.380 repeated endlessly.

00:18:18.920 In the modern

00:18:19.940 era that Nietzsche

00:18:21.200 is writing in,

00:18:22.860 the Christians have

00:18:23.580 completely rejected

00:18:24.500 that cycle by

00:18:26.120 following the

00:18:26.700 rules, not by

00:18:27.780 thinking about the

00:18:28.400 rules, but merely

00:18:29.500 by following them.

00:18:32.400 And yet they're

00:18:32.880 still subject to

00:18:34.540 these rules.

00:18:35.720 They're still,

00:18:36.800 the petty

00:18:37.820 squabbles of

00:18:38.840 day to day,

00:18:39.800 might be a little

00:18:40.460 bit less bloody

00:18:41.180 than it was in

00:18:42.580 ancient Babylon,

00:18:43.520 but it's the

00:18:44.520 exact same

00:18:45.600 petty struggles.

00:18:46.980 The constant

00:18:48.200 cycle,

00:18:50.740 living in the

00:18:51.640 universe,

00:18:53.160 being merely

00:18:54.000 part of the

00:18:55.440 universe,

00:18:56.660 rather than

00:18:58.400 overcoming,

00:19:00.020 rather than

00:19:00.720 being more.

00:19:03.060 And this is why

00:19:03.920 he says,

00:19:04.560 there is more

00:19:07.340 ape in you

00:19:08.420 than there is

00:19:09.160 in the

00:19:09.740 apes.

00:19:13.500 The ape

00:19:14.300 can't help

00:19:14.980 that endless

00:19:15.780 cycle of

00:19:16.640 morality,

00:19:17.680 of birth and

00:19:18.620 death,

00:19:19.940 of the same

00:19:20.940 stories over and

00:19:21.900 over again.

00:19:22.320 The ape can't

00:19:23.060 help it.

00:19:24.580 And yet

00:19:24.960 people can.

00:19:26.540 People can be

00:19:27.140 more than this.

00:19:28.080 But people

00:19:29.520 live as

00:19:30.960 slaves to

00:19:32.120 all of this.

00:19:33.240 To avoid

00:19:33.660 thinking,

00:19:34.080 to avoid

00:19:34.480 thinking in

00:19:35.600 the moment,

00:19:36.140 to avoid

00:19:36.900 going over.

00:19:39.120 Because going

00:19:40.120 over is

00:19:41.340 scary.

00:19:42.500 It's

00:19:42.840 terrifying.

00:19:44.800 And

00:19:45.400 ultimately,

00:19:46.360 it means

00:19:48.280 pursuing

00:19:49.300 your own

00:19:50.820 understanding of

00:19:51.760 the good.

00:19:52.140 Now,

00:19:54.380 this is a

00:19:56.540 part that is

00:19:57.280 deeply misunderstood.

00:19:58.960 Your own

00:19:59.460 understanding of

00:20:00.240 the good

00:20:00.680 does not

00:20:02.120 mean whatever

00:20:03.200 you feel

00:20:04.220 like.

00:20:06.360 Nietzsche was

00:20:07.220 just as upset

00:20:07.980 with the

00:20:08.320 atheists who

00:20:08.960 did whatever

00:20:10.100 they feel

00:20:11.000 like.

00:20:13.800 Abandoning

00:20:14.480 the simplistic

00:20:15.200 morality of

00:20:16.600 a degenerate

00:20:17.260 church doesn't

00:20:19.320 mean that there

00:20:19.920 is no such

00:20:20.460 thing as

00:20:20.800 beauty.

00:20:21.100 There is

00:20:21.960 no such

00:20:22.580 thing as

00:20:23.040 good.

00:20:24.080 There is

00:20:24.680 no such

00:20:25.080 thing as

00:20:25.400 architecture.

00:20:31.120 What it

00:20:31.900 means is

00:20:33.880 casting off

00:20:34.560 the training

00:20:35.040 wheels and

00:20:36.620 actually pursuing

00:20:37.400 it on your

00:20:38.120 own.

00:20:39.800 Terrified.

00:20:40.920 Because you

00:20:41.560 aren't going to

00:20:42.080 get a direct

00:20:42.820 revelation from

00:20:43.960 God.

00:20:45.360 You're not

00:20:46.080 going to get

00:20:46.660 a simple

00:20:47.700 stone tablet

00:20:48.620 telling you

00:20:49.200 what to do.

00:20:49.920 There are

00:20:50.920 signs out

00:20:51.560 there.

00:20:52.900 You feel

00:20:53.300 them in

00:20:53.540 your heart.

00:20:54.080 You feel

00:20:54.720 it when you

00:20:55.100 hear a

00:20:55.480 beautiful song.

00:20:56.540 When you

00:20:56.680 see the

00:20:58.120 magnificence of

00:21:00.040 nature.

00:21:01.280 There's

00:21:01.640 something there.

00:21:02.780 There's

00:21:03.060 something worth

00:21:03.620 pursuing.

00:21:04.600 But you

00:21:05.140 can't quite

00:21:05.600 nail it down.

00:21:06.340 things like

00:21:07.340 you feel

00:21:08.340 like you

00:21:09.180 know.

00:21:12.060 When Nietzsche

00:21:12.740 talks about

00:21:13.320 abandoning

00:21:14.060 good and

00:21:14.780 evil, I

00:21:17.100 believe that's

00:21:17.660 the good and

00:21:18.020 evil he's

00:21:18.400 talking about.

00:21:18.860 The simplistic,

00:21:20.440 basic, cheap

00:21:23.020 understanding of

00:21:24.540 right and wrong.

00:21:25.540 Which is really

00:21:26.220 more just about

00:21:26.940 authority, doing

00:21:28.260 whatever you're

00:21:28.800 told to do as

00:21:29.640 opposed to

00:21:30.040 thinking.

00:21:30.340 It means

00:21:33.160 going above

00:21:33.980 being a mere

00:21:34.880 animal, being

00:21:35.960 a mere

00:21:36.640 obedient peon

00:21:38.120 or a slave,

00:21:39.340 being above

00:21:40.600 a slave to

00:21:42.180 your desires,

00:21:43.600 but pursuing

00:21:44.400 something

00:21:45.220 grander

00:21:46.620 to ride that

00:21:48.840 bike without

00:21:49.340 training wheels.

00:21:50.040 You know, it

00:21:56.420 must be said

00:21:57.140 that Nietzsche

00:21:58.400 was not a

00:21:59.900 Christian.

00:22:00.740 He was very

00:22:01.480 disgusted with

00:22:02.140 the Christianity

00:22:02.740 he saw, and

00:22:04.140 very disgusted

00:22:04.900 with the

00:22:05.520 atheism he

00:22:07.380 saw, the

00:22:07.780 simplistic,

00:22:08.900 materialist

00:22:09.660 science that,

00:22:10.420 of course, we

00:22:10.920 see all over

00:22:12.200 the place

00:22:12.600 nowadays.

00:22:13.340 He was not

00:22:13.880 impressed with

00:22:14.340 any of it.

00:22:15.620 And most

00:22:16.400 Christians have

00:22:17.240 taken that

00:22:18.880 assault on the

00:22:19.920 church very

00:22:20.960 deep down.

00:22:22.260 See, I was

00:22:22.700 just quoting

00:22:23.120 C.S.

00:22:23.600 Lewis, and

00:22:24.000 C.S.

00:22:24.300 Lewis hated

00:22:24.900 Nietzsche, but

00:22:26.220 I seriously

00:22:27.180 wonder whether

00:22:28.760 he ever read

00:22:31.180 his work.

00:22:33.860 Nietzsche is

00:22:34.640 very angry.

00:22:36.140 He is shouting

00:22:37.240 loudly at

00:22:39.200 the world, and

00:22:40.360 his voice is

00:22:41.240 red with

00:22:41.920 blood.

00:22:44.120 He's a pretty

00:22:44.940 pissed off guy,

00:22:45.800 but for some

00:22:46.260 very, very

00:22:47.960 good reasons.

00:22:49.920 And

00:22:52.080 ultimately, I

00:22:54.640 don't see

00:22:55.160 that much of

00:22:55.900 a difference

00:22:56.420 between the

00:22:58.840 values, the

00:23:00.360 philosophy that

00:23:02.180 Nietzsche is

00:23:02.820 promoting.

00:23:03.660 You know, the

00:23:04.060 idea of finding

00:23:06.360 that divine

00:23:06.980 spark, that

00:23:07.960 even within the

00:23:08.900 material world,

00:23:10.120 within the

00:23:10.560 eternal reoccurrence,

00:23:11.520 that there is

00:23:11.900 this divine

00:23:12.380 spark out there

00:23:13.720 that we can

00:23:14.640 reach for, and

00:23:15.780 we do it by

00:23:16.320 going over, and

00:23:17.500 living courageously,

00:23:18.380 living in the

00:23:19.200 moment, living in

00:23:20.340 the present, and

00:23:21.660 loving our lives, and

00:23:23.340 being happy with

00:23:24.660 what we have.

00:23:26.700 I don't see a

00:23:27.220 huge difference

00:23:27.840 between that and

00:23:28.860 the New Testament,

00:23:30.040 which is, again,

00:23:31.900 about not just

00:23:32.760 living for the

00:23:33.960 sake of society, not

00:23:34.980 just living to

00:23:35.940 follow the rules, not

00:23:37.620 just living out of

00:23:38.600 fear of punishment,

00:23:39.540 but is embracing

00:23:40.780 suffering, embracing

00:23:42.580 the loving of

00:23:43.940 life.

00:23:44.340 Now, the final

00:23:50.740 part of this

00:23:52.100 video is the

00:23:52.860 hardest to

00:23:53.360 answer, because

00:23:55.460 Davis asked

00:23:56.840 me, how do

00:23:57.740 we solve

00:23:59.660 this nihilism

00:24:03.620 present in our

00:24:05.100 society?

00:24:07.340 You know,

00:24:07.500 Nietzsche looked

00:24:08.540 at the church,

00:24:09.640 and he looked

00:24:10.040 at the atheists,

00:24:10.680 and he saw

00:24:11.300 nihilists in

00:24:12.660 both groups.

00:24:14.680 The, how do

00:24:16.520 we overcome

00:24:18.180 this?

00:24:21.400 And the

00:24:22.440 frustrating

00:24:23.760 answer is

00:24:26.960 we can't.

00:24:29.380 You see,

00:24:29.880 trying to save

00:24:30.880 civilization,

00:24:32.860 trying to save

00:24:33.880 society,

00:24:35.600 trying to

00:24:36.340 prevent this,

00:24:38.040 these dark

00:24:38.760 times that we

00:24:39.300 have ahead of

00:24:39.900 us, that's

00:24:41.760 just being a

00:24:42.220 slave.

00:24:42.660 That's

00:24:43.220 falling into

00:24:43.940 the old

00:24:44.640 trap.

00:24:46.800 Zarathustra

00:24:47.360 didn't go

00:24:48.840 out into

00:24:49.600 the world

00:24:50.000 with any

00:24:50.560 hopes of

00:24:51.200 being successful.

00:24:53.240 Neither did

00:24:53.860 Christ, for

00:24:54.340 that matter.

00:24:54.920 He knew he

00:24:55.340 was going to

00:24:55.660 die on a

00:24:56.060 cross.

00:24:57.500 When you

00:24:58.120 start trying

00:24:58.580 to save

00:24:59.140 the world,

00:25:00.600 you become,

00:25:01.700 you get

00:25:02.120 dragged down,

00:25:03.100 you get

00:25:03.360 dragged down

00:25:04.000 into the

00:25:04.620 abyss with

00:25:05.440 the rest

00:25:05.900 of the

00:25:06.300 animals.

00:25:07.040 You start

00:25:07.640 worrying

00:25:09.060 over much

00:25:09.980 about all

00:25:11.120 the rules,

00:25:12.260 about the

00:25:12.980 obedience to

00:25:14.560 the rules.

00:25:15.900 And if you

00:25:16.760 sit there

00:25:17.860 too long,

00:25:18.700 you might

00:25:19.300 actually lose

00:25:20.280 all faith

00:25:21.060 and just

00:25:22.000 fall into

00:25:22.580 hedonism.

00:25:23.680 The world's

00:25:24.560 going to fall

00:25:25.120 apart,

00:25:25.680 I've been

00:25:26.000 trying to

00:25:26.420 fix it

00:25:26.720 forever,

00:25:27.260 I give up,

00:25:28.200 I've got a

00:25:28.540 crisis of

00:25:29.080 faith,

00:25:29.580 so I'm

00:25:30.820 going to

00:25:31.460 join the

00:25:32.060 local swingers

00:25:32.620 club.

00:25:33.520 I'm going to

00:25:34.080 do heroin,

00:25:34.740 I'm going to

00:25:35.020 do every drug

00:25:36.120 in the world

00:25:36.440 because life

00:25:36.880 is meaningless.

00:25:38.080 Or I'm

00:25:38.420 just going to

00:25:38.700 sit around

00:25:39.040 playing video

00:25:39.680 games,

00:25:40.100 never leaving

00:25:40.960 my bedroom.

00:25:45.020 It's not

00:25:45.700 about saving

00:25:46.220 the world.

00:25:47.440 Okay,

00:25:47.640 resisting

00:25:48.000 nihilism

00:25:48.740 is not

00:25:50.040 about,

00:25:51.660 about,

00:25:53.180 you can't

00:25:54.420 save the

00:25:54.800 world,

00:25:55.100 only the

00:25:55.480 world can

00:25:55.900 save itself.

00:25:57.380 Nobody

00:25:57.860 can save

00:25:59.320 you except

00:26:00.440 you.

00:26:02.380 You need

00:26:03.260 to embrace

00:26:04.000 going over

00:26:05.540 because that's

00:26:07.100 the correct

00:26:07.820 way to

00:26:08.300 live your

00:26:08.660 life.

00:26:09.340 Not because

00:26:10.100 it's going

00:26:10.400 to save

00:26:10.700 the world.

00:26:11.660 Not because

00:26:12.480 of anything

00:26:13.000 else but

00:26:13.340 that it's

00:26:14.100 the right

00:26:14.700 way to

00:26:15.440 live your

00:26:15.700 life.

00:26:16.180 It's the

00:26:16.460 moral way

00:26:17.000 to live

00:26:17.300 your life.

00:26:18.020 It's the

00:26:18.640 joyous

00:26:19.080 way to

00:26:20.060 live your

00:26:20.500 life.

00:26:21.520 And if

00:26:21.860 you have

00:26:22.100 to do

00:26:22.300 it a

00:26:22.480 hundred

00:26:22.740 times

00:26:23.120 over,

00:26:23.440 a million

00:26:23.780 times

00:26:24.240 over,

00:26:24.920 it would

00:26:26.820 be the

00:26:27.140 life that

00:26:27.960 you would

00:26:28.360 want to

00:26:28.840 live.

00:26:34.200 The best

00:26:35.040 that any

00:26:35.500 of us

00:26:35.800 can do

00:26:36.240 is to

00:26:37.560 set an

00:26:37.880 example

00:26:38.360 for

00:26:38.680 others,

00:26:39.440 to live

00:26:40.460 the best

00:26:40.920 life that

00:26:41.640 we can,

00:26:44.040 and if

00:26:45.100 others want

00:26:45.740 to listen,

00:26:47.220 to give

00:26:47.940 them what

00:26:48.340 advice and

00:26:49.420 what knowledge

00:26:50.180 we have.

00:26:53.220 Virtue is

00:26:54.620 its own

00:26:55.020 reward, and

00:26:56.300 the only

00:26:56.660 reward of

00:26:57.220 virtue is

00:26:58.480 virtue.

00:26:58.940 if there

00:27:04.760 is any

00:27:05.220 way to

00:27:06.420 save

00:27:06.940 society

00:27:07.780 from the

00:27:08.440 abyss,

00:27:09.720 it is

00:27:10.380 individuals

00:27:11.300 choosing to

00:27:13.240 live better

00:27:14.500 lives, to

00:27:15.700 abandon

00:27:16.300 narcissism,

00:27:18.300 to abandon

00:27:18.820 legalism,

00:27:20.920 to abandon

00:27:21.780 drug addiction,

00:27:23.340 and to

00:27:25.460 live joyously

00:27:26.380 in the

00:27:27.480 present,

00:27:28.620 pursuing

00:27:29.020 virtue for

00:27:30.760 virtue's

00:27:31.360 sake.

00:27:33.940 Best of

00:27:34.720 luck, folks.

00:27:36.420 Irini out.

00:27:37.160 nous

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00:27:40.220 2

00:27:42.120 2

00:27:46.200 1

00:27:48.600 2

00:27:48.900 2

00:27:49.000 3

00:27:49.680 2

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00:27:52.820 2

00:27:54.480 3

00:27:55.180 2

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00:27:56.500 4

00:27:56.860 1

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Leo D.M.J. Aurini - March 20, 2015

Nietzsche & the New Testament Part 2： Going Over or Under

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