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Salient. Victoria University of Wellington Students' Newspaper. Volume 31, No. 24. October 1, 1968

[introduction]

Photo of Friedrich Neitzsche

Friedrich Neitzsche

In the accompanying article, replying to John Pettigrew, Dr Roper of the Maths Dept. cites the 19th century philosopher as the prophet of godless generation.

One sometimes wonders just what Nietzsche himself would have to say today in the midst of our present cultural struggles, if he found Christians taking his pronouncement that 'God is dead' so seriously. Be that as it may, the phrase 'God is dead' is a very good one to apply to our contemporary culture, based as it is upon the premise that that to which the word 'God' was once supposed to draw our attention to has never been a genuine candidate for words to refer to. That the subject should be provoking such interest as to have two leading articles in Salient is indeed interesting, giving evidence to the fact that we still do think about the ultimate questions that face man and the meaning of his existence, and also, perhaps, that we realise our culture is very largely built upon the kinds of answers given to these questions.

However, there seems to be a mentality surrounding us today which whilst acknowledging the apparent importance of the questions dealt with, despairs of the possibility of coming to any answers; people seem to argue and hurl bricks all over the place, with no apparent progress. It is very important for both sides to have some way of assessing just what is being said, otherwise a lot can be said about nothing. I would, therefore, like to take the opportunity of attempting to clarify some of the issues raised, whilst acknowledging my Christian commitment, and seeking to sustain its validity.