Christianity

Summary

Dominique Pagani approaches Christianity mainly through its opposition to paganism and to the Greek world. Discussing Nerval's "Angélique", he contrasts the sighs of the saint with the cries of the fairy, which stand respectively for Christianity and paganism, and recalls that "pagan" comes from pagus, the peasant1. For him, Christian transcendence de-divinised the surrounding world and, in a sense, "iconoclasted" it2. He reads the saying "My kingdom is not of this world" in this light: by removing the divinities from the here and now, Christianity makes a modern relationship to nature possible, as he notes in connection with Thomas Mann. He also sees in it the reverse of the Greek world, with a pessimism about life here below and a kingdom placed outside this world3. Speaking of Nietzsche and Wagner, he points out that Nietzsche recognises in the prelude to Parsifal the secrets of Christianity, which he considers the strongest thought of the last centuries4.

1. 1#4.2 Angélique (by Nerval)12 Nov 2017 · 49:32
2. 2#4.2 Angélique (by Nerval)12 Nov 2017 · 1:21:18
3. 3Nietzsche: no pity for Wagner27 Jul 2022 · 11:54
4. 4Nietzsche: no pity for Wagner27 Jul 2022 · 15:45

Summary produced automatically from 5 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.