The philosophical term Nihilism means "nothingness." The dictionary tells us that the word came from the German Nihilismus that is derived from the Latin Nihil nothing. One of the doctrines of Judeo-Christianity is ex nihilo, which means that God created everything "out of nothing." The dictionary continues on with the following definition of Nihilism:
1 "1 a: a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless
b: a doctrine that denies any objective ground of truth and especially of moral truths
2 a (1): a doctrine or belief that conditions in the social organization are so bad as to make destruction desirable for its own sake independent of any constructive program or possibility
(2)capitalized: the program of a 19th century Russian party advocating revolutionary reform and using terrorism and assassination."
Nihilism is the negation of all being or value. Most Nihilists will not reject all values, but they universally reject absolute values. "The only value that exists is what we create. There is no objective value to be discovered." Oddly enough Nihilists value their freedom to be nihilists while denying that anything has absolute value.
Nihilism is the idea that life has no meaning and no significant value. If one were to be a true nihilist his/her only real option would be suicide as there would be nothing to live for, no purpose for life. Of course this is the end result of atheism, naturalism, and any other system of thought that denies the reality of a creator God and a God who has left absolute values for people to live by. What is created is an emptiness of life that focuses on the hopelessness of the situation.
One of the best places to see the influence of nihilism is in the television media of today. Think about the popular sit-coms, Seinfeld and Friends. Did the people involved in these stories ever experience any real happiness? No matter what was happening, the story wound up ridiculing someone regardless of the position they held. Another area where this is prevalent is the daytime "Soapies." I confess that I occasionally watch a soapie while eating lunch with my wife. In every Soapie there will be a brief moment of happiness, a declaration of love forever, and then the other shoe drops. One person is bored with his or her partner, one has been unfaithful at least once, and all sorts of sad situations prevail. There is no such thing as a happy ending in a Soapie. Nighttime dramas are much the same. My wife and I have been faithful fans of ER. But there is little happiness on ER. Everything ultimately is presented as hopelessness and without purpose. The saving of lives and good medical practice is overshadowed by the recurring disasters that take place.
Millions of people are watching these nihilistic presentations. What does that do to their self-esteem and any hope they might have for the future?
The bottom line is simple. We cannot operate without absolute values. The only source of these absolute values is the Bible delivered to human beings by the creator God. Life does have purpose and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Recently we observed the 60th wedding anniversary of a couple in our church. This couple had been the struggles of life, but they never lost sight of the ultimate values. Their personal faithfulness to God now reaches to the third and fourth generation of their family. Christians are not perfect people, but they do have a handle on how to live effective lives.
Christian living is now more crucial than ever. We have to be "salt" and "light" in a world that is engulfed by the darkness of nihilism.
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