PHILOSOPHICAL LETTERS. RUSSO-EUROPEAN DIALOGUE, VOL. 9 NO. 2 (2026)Author — Ekaterina Andreevna Polyakova, SPI, University of Graifswald; University of ErfurtKeywords: Nietzsche, Christianity, Antichrist, Reality, Symbolism, Resentiment, Will to Power, L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky
The article explores the concept of the anti-Christian, as presented in Nietzsche’s treatise «The Antichrist,» primarily within the context of its interpretation in modern German Nietzschean scholarship of recent decades.
In particular, there is a discernible tendency among German philosophers and theologians to soften Nietzsche’s antagonism toward Christianity—a tendency also characteristic of Russian religious-philosophical thought. However, this antagonism is not only undeniable but also possesses deep philosophical meaning. This meaning is not immediately apparent but requires careful analysis, which in turn can clarify an important question: how does Nietzsche conceptualize the reality opposed to Christianity in The Antichrist?The author of this article debates the interpretation of Nietzsche’s statements regarding reality as an expression of crude vitalism; such an interpretation would be philosophically uninteresting. For Nietzsche, reality functions as a kind of «counter-concept» (Gegenbegriff), an opposition to all «desirability» (Wunschbarkeit), and to any understanding of reality articulated in symbolic language—symbols that not only imbue reality with specific meaning but also express resentment toward the state of affairs.The German philosopher perceives this kind of symbolism already in Judaism, but particularly in the Gospel. It is within this context that Nietzsche’s description of the «Savior of Mankind» as an «anti-realist» and an «idiot» must be understood. This is not so much an offensive negation as it is the construction of an ultimate antagonist relative to Nietzsche himself, based on Nietzsche’s reading of the novels of F. M. Dostoevsky and L. N. Tolstoy’s treatise, *What Is My Faith? * As a result of this deliberate construction, the «Savior» emerges as a unique «symbolist”—one who has overcome resentment and, thus, becomes a genuinely formidable opponent.In The Antichrist, Nietzsche does more than just critique historical Christianity; he embarks on a risky experiment: to explore the possibility of genuinely overcoming resentment, even if contemplating this possibility condemns Nietzsche to acknowledge the superior strength of an opponent—the „Savior of Mankind”—with whom he wages an irreconcilable struggle in his capacity as the Antichrist.
