The Antichrist

The Antichrist is a book by Friedrich Nietzsche, first published in 1895. Written in the final year of his productive life, this provocative philosophical work offers a fierce critique of Christianity and a radical revaluation of moral values. Nietzsche challenges the foundations of Western morality, arguing that Christian ethics promote weakness and suppress human vitality, creativity, and strength.

In The Antichrist, Nietzsche contrasts what he calls “slave morality” with a life-affirming philosophy rooted in power, individuality, and self-mastery. He presents a sustained attack on institutional religion, theological dogma, and the cultural dominance of Christian moral systems in Europe. Rather than a conventional theological argument, the book is a sharp, aphoristic work of 19th-century philosophy that questions truth, virtue, guilt, and the concept of sin.

This controversial classic of modern philosophy explores themes central to Nietzsche’s thought, including the will to power, the critique of morality, the idea of the Übermensch, and the rejection of herd mentality. Readers interested in existentialism, atheism, religious criticism, and radical philosophy will find The Antichrist both challenging and intellectually stimulating. It remains one of Nietzsche’s most debated and discussed works.

Bold, confrontational, and uncompromising, The Antichrist continues to shape discussions about religion, ethics, and cultural values. It stands as a key text in modern philosophical literature and an essential work for those exploring Nietzsche’s critique of Christianity and Western moral tradition.

This translation by Henry Louis Mencken was first published in 1920.