God is Dead. Somewhat.
The following summary is FROM Wikipedia
“Friedrich Nietzsche writes his famous declaration, God is dead several times throughout his works.
The meaning of the phrase is often misunderstood — many have interpreted that Nietzsche believed in a literal death or end of God. Instead, the line points to the western world’s reliance on religion as a moral compass and source of meaning. As he explains in The Gay Science (Section 125, The Madman):
“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”
Nietzsche’s works express a fear that the decline of religion, the rise of atheism, and the absence of a higher moral authority would plunge the world into chaos. The western world had depended on the rule of God for thousands of years — it gave order to society and meaning to life. Without it, Nietzsche writes, society will move into an age of nihilism. Although Nietzsche may have been considered a nihilist by definition, he was critical of it and warned that accepting nihilism would be dangerous.”
Christianity is falling out of fashion in the west; in this sense, Nietzsche was onto something. That said, God's influence still touches every corner of our lives. Many of the most devout atheists are markedly Christian in their ethical sensibilities.
Because we had God, then many of us dumped Him, I believe we tended toward something different. Yes, in many ways we have killed off God, but we were smart enough to retain much of the good in our society; hospitals, universities, Red Cross, AA, UN Declaration of human rights, orphanages, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, leprosy missions, eradication of slavery, Amnesty International, and much more.
These were all started by Christians who were acting in obedience to Jesus Christ.
These organizations greatly benefit all of us and it would be foolish to reject them because of their origins. So, in many ways we haven’t regressed in our godlessness as a society. However, we now have another problem.
We have a society with so many decent people who either don’t know, or fail to acknowledge the source of these ‘good’ principles. We take credit for our God given gifts and talents, even our choices to deny ourselves for the good of another. When we do something that benefits others or sacrifice for the common good, we don’t stop and ask ourselves where these concepts originated or why. We get the glory.
A child is raised in a family that taught him kindness, respect for others, empathy, morality, and so on. He grows up and chooses to continue these practices. He is a ’good person’.
We largely fail to give credit where it is due. You could say that we have ‘plagiarized’ God (I got this phrase from T. Keller I think) or failed to cite Him. We think we are good. We are comfortable, things are nice, and we don’t see our need for God. But we are mistaken.
“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools…” - Romans 1:21-22
Being charitable, loving others, having integrity, and so on, are incredibly important, but they are not enough. If I were to somehow manage to apply the teachings of Jesus in my life, but fail to make him my lord and savior, I would have completely missed the mark. I cannot, in my own might, be truly good.
Or find true peace...
(check out "God is Dead Part -But His Throne Isn't Empty)
http://www.removingtheplank.com/home/articles/god-dead-throne-isnt-empty/
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