Good Friday of Holy Week 2017

Entry into the City

John August Swanson

The gathering clouds, the many soldiers, the kinetic energy of the painting, create a sense of foreboding, that something is about to happen to Jesus. Likely not good. The following reflection seems apropos for this Good Friday.

A God Torn to Pieces: Good Friday, Nietzsche, and Sacrifice

By Adam Ericksen 4-16-2014

Friedrich Nietzsche is a favorite whipping boy among Christians. It’s difficult to blame my fellow Christians for this. After all, Nietzsche is known for many provocative anti-Christian statements, but his most provocative statement might be that “God is dead.”

And yet, in his latest book A God Torn to Pieces: The Nietzsche Case, philosopher Guiseppe Fornari makes a claim that is just as provocative: “In the end [Nietzsche] was much closer to Christ than many who would claim to be Christians.”

Wait …Nietzsche was closer to Christ than many Christians? How could that be?

Nietzsche understood the implications of what Christ did on Good Friday better than many who claim to be Christians. Nietzsche was closer to Christ than many Christians because he knew the Christ that he rejected, whereas many Christians don’t know the Christ whom they call Lord and Savior.

https://sojo.net/articles/god-torn-pieces-good-friday-nietzsche-and-sacrifice