Nihilism: The Roots of the Revolution of the Modern Age
| Author | Seraphim Rose |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Philosophy, Religion, Nihilism, Modernity |
| Genre | Christian apologetics, Orthodox theology |
| Publisher | Saint Herman of Alaska Brotherhood |
Publication date | 1994 (posthumous first edition) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 180 (varies by edition) |
| ISBN | 9781887904063 |
| OCLC | 32133484 |
| Preceded by | God's Revelation to the Human Heart |
| Followed by | Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future |
Nihilism: The Roots of the Revolution of the Modern Age is a philosophical and theological work by Seraphim Rose (born Eugene Dennis Rose), an American Eastern Orthodox author, and later, monk. The book was originally written in 1962, prior to Rose's monastic tonsure and ordination as a Hieromonk of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. It offers a critique of nihilism in modern society, examining its historical roots and spiritual consequences from an Eastern Orthodox Christian perspective. Rose draws on figures such as Friedrich Nietzsche, whose philosophy he viewed as symptomatic of the broader cultural rejection of God and truth.[1]
The book is published and copyrighted by the Saint Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, which also publishes Rose's other works, including Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future and God's Revelation to the Human Heart. Other editions of Nihilism have been released. A 2001 edition published by the Brotherhood was expanded from 102 pages to 123, with additional editorial content. Appended to the original work is an essay by Rose on "The Philosophy of the Absurd";[2] the foreword from the 1994 edition by the editor Hiermonk Damascene Christensen is retained.[3]
History
[edit]Prior to writing Nihilism: The Roots of the Revolution of the Modern Age, Seraphim Rose underwent a period of spiritual crisis. During this time, he harboured a deep hostility toward God and organized religion. He rejected what he perceived as superficial expressions of Christianity in the United States, particularly towards Protestantism, which he described as "worldly, weak, and inauthentic." Rose felt that mainstream American Christianity had "put God in a box," a view that initially led him to explore the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, whose critique of religion resonated with Rose during this time of existential despair.[4]
Rose later characterized this phase of his life as one of intense suffering and inner turmoil. He reportedly experienced a profound sense of meaninglessness, which led to heavy alcohol use. In one account, he described a moment of desperation in which, while intoxicated, he cried out to God and asked to be condemned to hell.[5]
He began writing Nihilism in the early 1960s while living in San Francisco, prior to his move to a monastic life in the wilderness of Northern California.[6] At the time, he resided in a room with a grim history (reportedly the site of a murder years earlier) which he later associated with the spiritual darkness he was experiencing. The book was conceived as a chronicle of what Rose saw as "man's war against God", a rebellion against traditional order and values, and an attempt to construct a new world without Christ. These themes (rejection of modern ideologies and critiques of secular culture) formed the foundation of many of his later writings. Rose found in Eastern Orthodox Christianity what he believed to be the spiritual and philosophical answers to the nihilism he had once embraced.[5]
Content
[edit]Rose writes that the modern age has completely abandoned what he deems as the truth. He suggests that people view the truth as relative and have translated it into action in the modern era, describing that the modern philosophy of nihilism has reached into the roots of many people and become the moral compass of people in the 20th century, taking over Western societies.[1] Rose outlines that there are four stages of nihilism: liberalism, realism, vitalism and destruction. Rose writes that liberalism is the transitional phase where tradition loses its central importance, where man abandons God and liberalism creates the new man who worships himself and liberalism. Realism is written anout as being the naïve thoughts of man, failing to reflect upon the higher purpose and worship. He states that vitalism rejects realism's "progressive abandonment" of a higher truth and that it seeks to influence the masses. Lastly, he writes that destruction is the abandonment of truth altogether.[7] He argues:[8]
There has been destruction on a wide scale before, and there have been men who have gloried in destruction; but never until our own time have there been a doctrine and a plan of destruction, never before has the mind of man so contorted itself as to find an apology for this most obvious work of Satan, and to set up a program for its accomplishment.
— Seraphim Rose (2001) [1994], Nihilism: The Roots of the Revolution of the Modern Age. p. 54
References
[edit]- ^ a b Rose 2001.
- ^ Rose 2001, pp. 101–121.
- ^ Christensen 2001, pp. 5–8.
- ^ "The Lamp-stand of America". Death to the World. No. 28. September 2, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
- ^ a b Rose 1994.
- ^ Antuzzi, Michael (February 9, 2022). "Forming Young Souls: Fr. Seraphim Rose". The Saint Constantine School. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
- ^ Aurini, Leo M. J. (May 2, 2019). "Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age by Fr. Seraphim". Stares at the World. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
Attacking the products of nihilism (communism, avante garde art, social justice) fails to strike at the root; defending against the products of nihilism is insufficient, and too often ignores that even the 'right' is infected with nihilism as well.
- ^ "Nihilism Quotes by Seraphim Rose". Goodreads. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
Works cited
[edit]- Rose, Seraphim (1994). Damascene Christensen (ed.). Nihilism: The Roots of the Revolution of the Modern Age. Forestville, California, US: Fr. Seraphim Rose Foundation. ISBN 978-0938635154.
- Rose, Seraphim (2001) [This edition first published 1994]. Damascene Christensen (ed.). Nihilism: The Roots of the Revolution of the Modern Age (2nd ed.). Platina, California, US: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood. ISBN 978-1-887904-06-3. (Publisher's description – via SVS Press & Bookstore).
- Christensen, Damascene (2001). "Editor's Preface". Nihilism: The Roots of the Revolution of the Modern Age. By Eugene [Fr. Seraphim] Rose (2nd ed.). Platina, California, US: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood. pp. 5–8. ISBN 978-1-887904-06-3.