Today I have been thinking about the death and rebirth of Gods. During the past several months, I have been revisiting the writings of the influential philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, who famously proclaimed the death of God:

The Madman. Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market place, and cried incessantly, "I seek God! I seek God!" As many of those who do not believe in God were standing around just then, he provoked much laughter. Why, did he get lost? said one. Did he lose his way like a child? said another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? or emigrated? Thus they yelled and laughed. The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his glances.

"Whither is God" he cried "I shall tell you. We have killed him--you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how have we done this? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What did we do when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving now? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there any up or down left? Are we not straying as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night and more night coming on all the while? Must not lanterns be lit in the morning? Do we not anything yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we not smell anything yet of God's decomposition? Gods too decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, the murderers of all murderers comfort ourselves? What was holiest and most powerful of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives. Who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must not we ourselves become gods simply to become worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whoever will be born after us--for the sake of this deed he will be part of a higher history than all history hitherto."

Here the madman fell silent and looked again at his listeners; and they too were silent and stared at him in astonishment. At last he threw his lantern on the ground, and it broke and went out. "I come too early," he said then; "my time has not come yet. This tremendous event is still on its way, still wandering--it has not yet reached the ears of man. Lightning and thunder require time even after they are done, before they can be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than the most distant stars--and yet they have done it themselves.

It has been related further that on that same day the madman entered divers churches and there sand his requiem aeternam deo. Led out and called to account, he is said to have replied each time, "What are these churches now if they are not the tombs and sepulchers of God?"

-Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 125, tr. Walter Kaufmann

I met this morning with my local congregation of Latter Day Saints to partake of the sacrament and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. During part of the service we sang a hymn entitled "Behold the Great Redeemer Die". The hymn consists of 6 verses, but traditionally congregations sing only the first 4. Today, our choral director instructed our congregation to sing all 6 verses -- something I had never done before. Below are the words of the final two verses of that hymn:

He died, and at the awful sight
The sun in shame withdrew its light!
Earth trembled, and all nature sighed
In dread response, "A God has died!"

As we sang this verse, I reflected on the congruence between this perspective and that expressed by Nietzsche. Then comes the final verse:

He lives--he lives. We humbly now
Around these sacred symbols bow,
And seek, as Saints of latter days,
To do his will and live his praise.

As a young man, Joseph Smith sought divine guidance in answer to the question of which church he should attend. The inspiration he received is importantly similar to the message of Nietzsche's Madman: All the churches of the day were nothing more than sepulchers of a God who is no longer living. Joseph was instructed that he should join none of them. It was revealed to him that the True and Living God would through Joseph, establish the true church of Jesus Christ. It is no coincidence that April 6th -- the date that Christ is said to have risen -- is the date the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was established. Just as Christ arose to a more powerful form than he took during his mortal life, so too did the Church of Christ arise in modern times with doctrines more powerful than those of previous times.

The message of Mormonism is that there exists a God who is Living and Powerful to save us. Today I celebrate not only the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also the death rebirth of the knowledge of the True and Living God as revealed to Joseph Smith the prophet.