Paul Bishop is William Jacks Chair of Modern Languages in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Glasgow. His research examines the history of ideas with a particular interest in the reception of Nietzsche in the fields of psychoanalysis, analytical psychology, and Lebensphilosophie. His previous publications include German Political Thought and the Discourse of Platonism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), Ludwig Klages and the Philosophy of Life (Routledge, 2017), On the Blissful Islands with Nietzsche & Jung (Routledge, 2017) and, as editor A Companion to Friedrich Nietzsche, Life and Works (Camden House, 2012).

In this insightful critical guide, Paul Bishop develops an admirably clear and incisive analysis of Nietzsche’s The Anti-Christ, arguing that we should treat philology as its central theme. Bishop considers how Nietzsche raises and responds to problems of secularism and post-secularism in the text, and contends that The Anti-Christ, while still controversial today, has never been more timely and relevant. Bishop superbly demonstrates the continuing relevance of Nietzsche and philology by connecting Nietzsche’s own philological concerns in The Anti-Christ to diverse religious traditions and histories, as well as to pressing current issues such as climate change, global financial and health crises, and transhumanism. Bishop’s argument is supported by careful and discerning scholarly attention to Nietzsche’s texts, and to scholarship on Nietzsche and religion.

• ChronologyIntroductionNietzsche’s Biography and Religious BackgroundChrist and anti-Christ in The Anti-ChristComposition of The Anti-ChristSignificance of the Figure of anti-ChristWho are the Hyperboreans? (AC §1-§2)Methods (AC §13 and §59) Nietzsche’s Portrait of Christ (AC §29 and §32)Beweise der Kräfte or ‘Proofs of Strength’ (AC §32 and §50)Nietzsche on Buddhism, the History of Israel, and the Loss of the SymbolNietzsche on Buddhism (AC §20-§23)Nietzsche on the History of Israel (§25)Nietzsche on the Loss of the Symbolic Dimension (AC §31-§32)Nietzsche on Christianity and the MysteriesSon of Man (AC §34)Kingdom of God (AC §34)Son of God (AC §34 and §37)Nietzsche, Christianity and the Mysteries (AC §37)Nothing to do with Dionysos? (AC §58)Nietzsche on Hinduism, the Roman Empire, and Nobility The ‘Lawbook’ of Manu (AC §56-§57)Nietzsche and the Roman Empire (AC §58)Theme of Nobility (AC §24, §37, §45, and §60-§62)Nietzsche and St PaulThe Logic of Sacrifice (AC §39-§40)Paul in Dawn (D §68)The Role of Paul of Tarsus (AC §41-§43)Nietzsche on PhilologyNietzsche’s Critique of Philology Nietzsche’s Philological Strategies (AC §52)ConclusionGlossary of Key TermsGuide to Further Reading on The Anti-ChristBibliographyIndex