The two intellectual founders of existentialism are Nietzsche, who pronounced “the death of God,” and Kierkegaard, who advocated the “leap of faith.” From one, we get anti-religious existentialism; from the other we get religious existentialism. The former gives us the sentiment that because life is meaningless we must make up our own meaning. The latter gives us the sentiment that religious life is just as meaningless as secular life unless we bring the full intensity and passion of our lived experience into it. Both are anti-bourgeois, anti-decadent, anti-complacent—but one sees organized religion as a source of the problem, while the other sees it as a way out, provided we know how to decipher it.
Is Existentialism Religious or Secular?
Is Existentialism Religious or Secular?
Is Existentialism Religious or Secular?
The two intellectual founders of existentialism are Nietzsche, who pronounced “the death of God,” and Kierkegaard, who advocated the “leap of faith.” From one, we get anti-religious existentialism; from the other we get religious existentialism. The former gives us the sentiment that because life is meaningless we must make up our own meaning. The latter gives us the sentiment that religious life is just as meaningless as secular life unless we bring the full intensity and passion of our lived experience into it. Both are anti-bourgeois, anti-decadent, anti-complacent—but one sees organized religion as a source of the problem, while the other sees it as a way out, provided we know how to decipher it.