Beneath the Shadow of the Hammer

Beneath the Shadow of the Hammer is an occasional series of entries from a reading journal I keep, with an emphasis on the ways Christianity interacts with existential philosophy. The title is derived from German existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s autobiography, Ecce Homo, where he asserts: “My paradise is beneath the shadow of the sword.” Nietzsche once referred to the methodology of his thinking as “philosophizing with a hammer”, in that he sought to destroy things which he believed lacked intellectual integrity in hopes of finding the truth in the rubble. Nietzsche, his contemporaries, and those who came after him understood that faith (and, in particular, Christianity) stood in competition with existential philosophy in attempting to answer the questions that stand at the bottom of every person’s soul. Nietzsche thus made Christianity the primary target of his philosophical destruction. It’s my theory that existential philosophy is useful for Christians to understand as we attempt to excavate the basic human needs – the “God shaped hole” in every person’s heart – that Christ offers to satisfy. We can stand in the shadow of Nietzsche’s hammer, but only because existentialist critiques have answers. This project is an attempt showcase that.

---

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Reflections on Friedrich Nietzsche

1 – Christ, The Leveller

2 – On Frodo and Decadence

3 – The Good Thief

4 – “Do We Not Feel The Breath Of Empty Space?”

7 – The Kaleidoscope Through Which We Dimly See

Reflections on Carl Jung

5 – Without Excuse

6 – Where The Light Shines Through

Miscellaneous Reflections

8 – Two Trees