THE GOSPEL OF THE SUPERMAN.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 913, 5 September 1910, Page 6

THE GOSPEL OF THE SUPERMAN.

"BE HAED, OH;MY BRETHREN."

The philosophy of : Nietzsche, . that strange German thinker, the inveterate foe of both. Christianity and democracy, who taught that the,good things of life; 'belong to:the privileged few, and whose gospel might- be summed- up in the .words, "Be hard, oh my brethren," was. '■ touched upon in a striking manner by' the: Rev. T. H. Sprott:' in :lthe; course of his sermoii at St. Paul's Anglican Church yesterday morning.- 1 . Nietzsche, who died in 1900, contended that 'in our modern world-the real masters and ■superiors, while under the influence of the "narcotic'of Christianity," .have : allowed themselves to bo-robbed of their' natural rights by. the democracy." Ho denounced Christian'niorality because : it had enabled the mass of the people to enlist;sympathy and obtain votes, thus gaining predominance over their destined superiors. Ho.held.thal if-it were not tor Christianity.the privileged class, would :_be- 'in:--.'an..'.immeasurably; stronger position; than,they are to-day. •" Briefly -and broadly stated,' Mr. Sprott contended ; that' one of the tendencies, o-f the present day was to laugh at sin and to regard suffering as the only thing 'to be feared; Yet. sin was" one of the most prolific sources of suffering. Only/ recently at the office of the At-torney-General he had with othe.rs listended to'statistics showing;the farreaching effects on the community of one sin only; Wo were living in an age of' philanthropy and-the alleviation or ; suffering had become fashionable; but all this philanthropy was not necessarily Christian." Some thinkers were of opinion that it was,: largely due to a sense of pity, arising- out of the : feeling that as this short life was all an effort should be made to crowd as much' comfort as possible into it. The present generation might say, '"Let us get as much pleasure as .wo can'for ourselves and others": but the nest generation might alter thisto "Let us get its much pleasure as' we can for ourselves." There was a serious danger that if Christian faith were abandoned Christian morality would also be thrown aside. Indeed, anew philosophy was even noiv being preached, and it had come to New Zealand. Its literature could be obtained in our book shops.;,; This, was the philosophy of Nietzsche,' arid .some j people were now-looking'to it'as. the | great enemy of Socialism, and the only, means of preserving the race. Nietzsche bitterly attacked . Christian_ morality. He poured contempt on charity, benevolence, and care for. the \woak and the suffering, and preached' the. gospel of the suoerman. He declared that, it was the strong, not the weak, who-should inherit tho world. His teaching was in direct opposition both to modern. Socialism and that true Christian char-; ity which was 'inspired by a pure heart,' a good conscience, and faith! in.God.: Probably the greatest.foe which Chris-r tianity would have to grapple with during tho pr'oseht >century would, bo this gospel of the world for the strong. ;