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Readers interested in an approach more critical of Christianity would be better served by Merold Westphal's Suspicion and Faith: The Religious Uses of Modern Atheism. Westphal writes primarily to the church, not to the academy, and while he does provide a scholarly exegesis of Nietzsche's anti-Christian critique (along with those offered by Marx and Freud), he frames that critique in such a way as to compel our self-examination as Christians. For those up to the academic challenge of Williams's text, I would advise reading it alongside Westphal's for a more complete picture of what is wrong, as well as what is right, in Nietzsche's denouncement of our faith.

Williams shows us a shrill, embittered, and often mistaken Nietzsche. But he also helps us see a Nietzsche for whom honesty—truth embodied in action—is an absolute demand.

David Mills is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Honors Program at Cedarville University.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

The Shadow of the Antichrist: Nietzsche's Critique of Christianity is available from Amazon.com and other retailers.

Stephen N. Williams wrote "On Religion and Revelation" and "How Nietzsche Found Jesus" for Books & Culture.

Other articles on Nietzsche include:

Darwin's Graveyards | Yes, he really was a Social Darwinist. (Books & Culture, November/December 2006)

Neuroscience After Nietzsche | Is the brain a symphony orchestra without a conductor? (Books & Culture, November 1, 1999)

Nietzsche Was Right | The question is not why modern secularists oppose traditional morality; it is on what grounds they defend any morality. (Philip Yancey, Books & Culture, January 1, 1998)

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May (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51