The Reformation: An Apocalyptic Perspective

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), the self-described antichrist and disciple of the Greek god Dionysus, is undeniably one of Christianity’s bitterest philosophical enemies. Yet ironically, in numbers 60 and 61 of The Antichrist (1888), he eulogized the Renaissance Papacy and bitterly condemned Martin Luther’s break with Rome.1 Inadvertently, however, the eulogy reveals the pagan essence of medieval Christianity; and why, from a biblical perspective, the Protestant Reformation was absolutely and urgently necessary.