Customer Reviews

Contesting Spirit: Nietzsche, Affirmation, Religion

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This book is a must read for anyone who wishes to consider the "religious life" in a "non-traditional/post-foundationalist" sense. Roberts argues, and rightly so, that Nietzsche raises profound questions regarding the nature of religion and the uses of traditional religious language/metaphor. Further, in his discussion Roberts brings to light the significance of Nietzsche's (unexpectedly) ascetic life style. My only hesitancy is that Roberts seems to stop short of arguing that Nietzsche was indeed a deeply religious thinker. I believe this stronger argument could have been made, though the author limits himself with the less ambitious aim of using Nietzsche to raise questions about what we mean by "religion." My rating = 4.5 stars.

I've been reading Nietzsche for almost 10 years, and this is one of two secondary sources that I keep close to me when thinking about Nietzsche. Tyler Roberts is dead on in examining Nietzsche's critique of Christianity, religion, and asceticism. It shows just how "religious" Nietzsche was, not to undermine his critique of Christianity, but to show in what ways it is accurate, and in what ways Nietzsche was wrong.

This book really opens up a space for a Christian to read Nietzsche and pull out some of his deeply emotional/spiritual gems while understanding that Nietzsche doesn't have a full picture of Christianity.