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Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age

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When he was still a catechumen of the Russian Church Abroad, long before he became Fr. Seraphim, Eugene Rose had a grand conception, which was a work to be entitled "The Kingdom of Man and the Kingdom of God"; it was to be a spiritual history of Mankind, and a comprehensive contrast between two disparate world-views, that which places its hope on the ability of Humanity to master itself and its environment, and that which places its hope soley on God, and looks to the advent of the heavenly kingdom at the end of this age as the only solution to the world's problems. Like most incredibly ambitious projects, it failed to be completed; all that came of it was a large pile of notes and one finished chapter. After his early death at the age of forty-eight, that chapter was published as "Nihilism".

After becoming a monk, Fr. Seraphim lost all interest in philosophical discourse as an end in itself, and his writing became much more down-to-earth, and focused entirely on "pastoral" concerns, though he continued to utilise his incisive intellect and profound scholarship in adressing these concerns. He refused to have this book published during his life, though urged to do so by a brother monk. Perhaps it was an ego thing with him, and he didn't want the temptation to intellectual pride that might result from its publication, but the work also seems very dark and heavy to many readers, so perhaps he didn't want to risk darkening any spirits in our already dark and oppresive times. I think it must remain an open question whether the author of this work would have been pleased by its publication.

For myself, I am glad the decision to publish was made; more than any other work, this book helped coalesce my view of intellectual history, bringing meaning to things before unclear to me. Fr. Seraphim is as good as Chesterton in that way; much less witty, of course, but also much more deeply spiritual. Not even his worst enemy could justly accuse Fr. Seraphim of frivolity.

The best parts of the book are the chapter where he diagnoses the different stages of nihilism, demonstrating that movements which seem wholly divergent and even contradictory are in fact involved in the same nihilist dialectic; the parts where he demonstrates that all characteristic modern movements are involved in this dialectic, especially his analysis of successive periods of modern art, in which he clearly sees the face of the "last Man" emerging, and the final chapter, in which he addresses the question "after Nihilism, what"? The last few paragraphs of the book have a power rarely to be found in any form of literature, let alone works on philosophical topics, which tend to be rather dry and listless.

The only problems with the book have to do with the editing, which is inferior to that of most of the other publications of St. Herman's. The editor's introduction presents a rather whimsical portrait of Eugene Rose, which wouldn't do much toward making me want to read the book if I weren't already inclined to do so. Likewise, the photo chosen to demonstrate Fr. Seraphim's "sobriety" of demeanour to me makes him look like one of the people who habitually wander through bus terminals, for whom sobriety is not the most notable feature. The essay appended to the end of the book reads like a first draft of the book itself, in that it covers much of the same material, but is much less precise in expression, and is wandering and disjointed; coming immediately after the most powerful paragraphs in the book, it in effect diminishes the impact the book would have if it were allowed to end on a high note. For those not accustomed to reading philosophical material, a glossary would be of great assistance.

Despite these detractions, this is a great book. If you are at all sympathetic with the author's perspective, it will resonate in the core of your being. Though it is a very short book, I can think of no other work which has so profoundly affected me.

Father Seraphim (Eugene Rose) could write about this pernicious spirit, the spirit of nihilism, because he lived intoxicated by it himself. This brief expose describes that which drives modernity and is really a sign post for those genuinely searching for Truth from a philosophical angle. It will really only be interesting for those with a philosophical bent as it is rather 'brainy' in its whole premise. The author describes the philosophy from his Orthodox Christian worldview, he describes a modern, worldwide, cultural, philosophical, spiritual formation that can only be understood as a clear indicator of the world's place in history now, a time refered to in the Holy Scriptures as the Apostasy. Something I found interesting was Father Seraphim's reference to Hitler as simply a 'magician.' Nazi Germany (as well as the communist experiments) for Father Seraphim, was a massive and shocking manifestation of the spirit of nihilistic praxis, a manifestation that will culminate at the end of time in the person of the antichrist, who will also have magical, demonic powers to manipulate his following. Father Seraphim's book teaches us of the present to remind us of Truth, and warns us of the future, a darker, and more malignant image of today. It's worth the read, if you are inclined.

I "met" Fr. Seraphim Rose, of blessed memory, through several books and short articles he wrote during my 4-year soujourn in Eastern Orthodoxy. This one on Nihilism is his best.

Now, Fr. Seraphim Rose spent his hieromonastic life in a very conservative (some may say traditionalist, others may say truly orthodox) body called the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. After a life of intellectual pursuits and even dabbling into Buddhism, Eugene Rose converted to Orthodoxy and joined this ecclesial body and then co-founded a monastic community in California. Fr. Rose was deeply infuenced by traditional Russian Orthodox spirituality and mysticism, particularly that of the elders or "staretsi" of the Optina Monastery.

The quality of Fr. Seraphim Rose's work is uneven, at times truly erudite, at times approaching the tendency for shrill overstatement that characterizes so much of the Christian-Orthodox-Catholic ultra-traditionalist camps. Thankfully, Nihilism is mostly free from this tendency.

Fr. Seraphim followed a physician's approach in his Nihilism: first, he studied and described the symptoms, then he identified the underlying causes, then he prescribed a cure. The Introduction set the scope of Fr. Seraphim's critique of the modern age:

"What is the Nihilism in which we have seen the root of the Revolution of the modern age? The answer, at first thought, does not seem difficult; several obvious examples of it spring immediately to mind. There is Hitler's fantastic program of destruction, the Bolshevik Revolution, the Dadaist attack on art; there is the background from which these movements sprang, most notably represented by several "possessed" individuals of the late nineteenth century--poets like Rimbaud and Baudelaire, revolutionaries like Bakunin and Nechayev, "prophets" like Nietzsche; there is, on a humbler level among our contemporaries, the vague unrest that leads some to flock to magicians like Hitler, and others to find escape in drugs or false religions, or to perpetrate those "senseless" crimes that become ever more characteristic of these times. But these represent no more than the spectacular surface of the problem of Nihilism. To account even for these, once one probes beneath the surface, is by no means an easy task; but the task we have set for ourselves in this chapter is broader: to understand the nature of the whole movement of which these phenomena are but extreme examples."

Fr. Seraphim did not restrict himself to theology as one would expect from a monk, but also examined philosophy, art, music, politics, got to the critical core and then laid it bare. The result is a devastating critique of every assumption, every idea, underlying Western Civilization from the Enlightenment onwards.

It has been a while since I read this, but it left such a deep mark that I felt compelled to write a review. Even though the reviews thus far have expressed well the power in this work, I only wanted to mention that, in my case, I could not help but feel exposed by his insights. I felt like he described me, though not as I would like to see myself. The incipient nihilism that lurks below stated ideals is what it seems to me Father Seraphim is aiming at. His desire is not so much to attack an explicit philosophy of nihilism, but to expose and diagnose the lifestyle-nihilism that most of us live with. Quite to my astonishment I felt compelled to repent of my own atheism, though I never really realized I was atheist, nor would I have desired to be. I simply realized that I swallowed the modern faithless worldview and ignorantly and unconsciously lived out its ideals. Of this I am ashamed, and am thankful to God and Father Seraphim Rose for showing me not just the darkness lurking in the world, but also the darkness lurking in my own heart.

One can hardly believe this was written over 20 years ago. Fr Seraphim Rose was clearly aware of what we would be facing in the present times politically and socially. I stand amazed at his ability to portray this current landscape in the written word.

This book is brilliantly done and provocative. It makes you think about what is going on around you and helps search for a deeper meaning of truth in your life. Could be years before I fully understand it.

I'd have to say SR has allot to say about this subject that is true and prescient. Indeed nihlism in our time has spawned a cruel age so here I'd like to quote L. Trilling:
"It is possible that the contemplation of cruelty will not make us humane but cruel; that the reiteration of the badness of our spiritual condition will make us consent to it."
I use this quote because many of Seraphim Rose's books are bizarre; in part some would say fabrications others would say delusional. Many make a carreer consenting to " the badness of our spiritual condition" while swaythed in robes of self sanctity and delusion, in the context of his other works one has to be ever vigilant of this type of "spirituality"! I admire the struggle of this man but ... and will leave it at that.

I picked this up on recommendation that it was an interesting response to some of nihilism's growth. Instead it was just the typical religious backhand against revolutionary thought. Nihlism and productive socialism as the sane thing? Huh?

Rose doesn't seem to notice that much of nihilism's point would seem to be to rid us of antiquated philosophy and religion before paving the road for a more cohesive thought. "Absurdity" is not the end result of nihilism, it has no goals except to clear the way...perhaps for constructive philosophy, perhaps not. What that constructive philosophy will be is unknown, but it will not likely be Christianity...and that seems some of Rose's concern. Just because nihilism may slowly wipe away religion doesn't mean that there will be only 'coldness' left.

Still, to be fair, it was interesting to read Rose's discussion on the relationship between nihilism and religion. He's a very thoughtful writer (and hard to read at times) just perhaps a little to one-sided, but hey it's a book.