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The German philosopher Karl Marx once stated that Christianity was “the opium of the masses.” Sure enough, religion in general, and Christianity in particular has often been portrayed by nonbelievers as “a way to control society.” Fredrich Nietzsche concurred.
Nietzsche considers that because society is composed of two classes of people; good, and bad, or good and evil, there are two types of morality. The good class (of high value) is known as the master and is composed of the noble, intelligent, aristocrats.
The bad or evil class (of low value) is known as the slave and is composed of the common or the lower class which stands in direct antithesis to the master. For Nietzsche, this master/slave structure touches all aspects of society but is most evident in what might be called the moral compass of a society.
In the master-ruled society moral boundaries and values are established in accordance with the master’s preference, then forced upon the slave. You see, master morality is the morality of the strong-willed who defines good as “whatever is useful.” After all, Nietzsche said that the purpose of life itself was nothing more than “will to power.”
Considering that the aristocrats are more often than not the rulers of power, it stands to reason (or so they say) that something needs to be put in place to “subdue the masses” in the slave class. In that way, Nietzsche not only agrees with Marx, but also argues that Christian slave morality is actually destructive to all that is noble because it is against the powerful master by extolling weakness, suffering, kindness, and peacefulness; all the weak qualities of a society.
In short, according to Nietzsche, slave morality (Christian morality) is hard against master morality because it “is a sort of tyranny against [human] nature” and is a “magnificent stupidity” because it represents a “narrowing of perspectives,” or so he believed. This narrowing, he argued, results in a belief that there is only one true morality rather than whatever the aristocrat wants. It is simply a herd morality that the slave clings to, and it hinders the aristocrats “will to power.”
Nonetheless, it seems to me Nietzsche argues in a circle. He argues that Christian morality is oppressive and unnatural, but at the same time, he argues in The Madman, that without Christian morals (in the case were God truly dead) the world would be a horrific place. But this is not the point: this is not the root of the matter.
Shall we ask then: what is truth? Let’s start there. Is there such a thing as natural morality? Nietzsche says “no;” the atheist says no; the naturalist says no; the humanist says no; the Darwinist too. Are there objective truths that moral standards are built upon; a truth that is true for all people, in all places, at all times—absolute truth? Perhaps there is.
Now, based upon the previous argument from consciousness we could say: The human beings that God freely chose to create consist of two substances; one material, and one immaterial; one body being uniquely human, and one spirit being similar in substance to God, who is Spirit.
However, there is another characteristic that can help us answer the truth question, and it is a characteristic that is found exclusively within the consciousness of man. The Moral Law. Christians hold that there is a Moral Law “written on the hearts of men,” given by the Creator as an endowment of our creation.
That means that the Moral Law is seated in the human consciousness. It is a nonnegotiable law, a law that everyone recognizes, a law that “just is,” a part of being human. It is an objective truth meaning it is true whether we like it or not, whether we follow it or not, whether we agree with it or not.
The Moral Law applies to all people, across all cultures, and across all times. That is also the definition of an absolute truth; it is something that is true for all people in all places across all of time. Further, it is sometimes called Natural Law because it is in accordance with the natural world, with human moral obligations, and that sense of right and wrong written in the human heart.
Absolute truth. But atheists claim there are no absolute truths. He claims that your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth because there is no absolute truth that applies to all people. All truth is relative.
The atheist says that truth is only relative to the person who believes it, not everyone else. Christianity is true for the Christian, and atheism is true for the atheist, and that is okay as long as we respect each other because there is no absolute truth anyway, or so it is said.
That notion is best illustrated by a popular bumper sticker that spells out COEXIST implying that all moral truth claims are equally true. According to this scheme, “c” is the symbol of Islam, “o” is the symbol of the peace movement, “e” is the symbol of transgenderism, “x” is the Jewish star of David, the dot on the “i” is the Wiccan symbol, the “s” is the Taoist yin/yang symbol, and the “t” is the Christian Cross of Christ.
One big happy family, they say. But that cannot be true because each one makes an exclusionary truth claim; each one claims to be the ultimate and exclusive moral truth. Join us again next week as we continue to look at moral truth claims. Until then, is God dead?
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics, and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife Vicki are members of the Waurika church of Christ and live in Ardmore, OK. You can contact him at: dr.kerley@ isGoddead.com.
