Sunday, July 21, 2013

"...Hard to be a nihilist with a two-year-old..."


“…a feeling of irritation characterizes postmodern life in the West. Certitude is in short supply. Despite this set of conditions, thoroughgoing nihilism, both intuitively and practically, seems to be very difficult to practice. Not even Nietzsche managed to do it! I remember several years ago when US National Public Radio host Renee Montagne noted with incredulity during an interview that rock performer David Bowie’s 2002 album actually had the theme of hope, in contrast to the starkness and bleakness of Bowie’s previous recording catalog.

"The artist responded with a reference to the then fifty-five-year-old’s young family: 'I think I have to imbue my songs with a certain sense of optimism now, more than I ever did before, because I have a child.' Indeed, it is very difficult being a nihilist with a two-year-old running around the house. Optimism, hope, and love: these are categories that are metaphysical in nature. They speak of transcendence and the permanence of things beyond the mere physicality of the world."

-- Gregory Alan Thornbury “Recovering Classic Evangelicalism: Applying the Wisdom and Vision of Carl F. H. Henry” (Crossway)

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