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Christianity and Existentialism

Secular existentialism is a worldview adopted by philosophers who consider the nature
of human condition as a key philosophical problem and who share the view that this problem is
best addressed through ontology (Burnham and Papandreopoulos) that emerged mainly in the
20th century (Christian Existentialism). In other words, it attempts to explain human
experiences such as birth and death by focusing on the individuals existence and by rejecting the
idea of God. On the other hand, the Christian worldview believes in the existence of an allknowing superior being and uses the Bible as a source of answers for fundamental questions.
Although there are similarities between these two worldviews, they are not compatible with each
other. They do not share the same view on important notions such as the absurd, nihilism and on
who has the authority to determine the absolute truth.
Existentialism and Christianity handle the notion of the absurd differently (Christian
Existentialism). According to Albert Camus, the absurd is the confrontation of this irrational
world with the desire for clarity, the appeal of which resounds in the depths of man (qtd. in
Esteban 1). More precisely, it is the huge discrepancy between what an individual desires to
accomplish and the reality of the world as a result of the absence of God. For example, the
absurd is seen when an individuals will to live his life to the fullest meets the harsh reality of
death. This leads to the realization that our actions and desires will always be meaningless
compared to the actuality of the world. Camus responds to this by using the myth of Sisyphus to
illustrate how one can be victorious over the absurdity of the world by finding personal meaning
and being contempt in the pointlessness of our actions (Burnham and Papandreopoulos).
Similarly, Christianity says that all our righteous acts are like filthy rags (New International
Version, Isa. 64. 6), which is in agreement with Camuss recognition of the absurdity that is the

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individuals will and its futility in relation to the world. The difference lies in how Christianity
deals with this fact. The first epistle of John says that although the world and its desires pass
away, [] whoever does the will of God will live forever (New International Version, 1 John. 2.
17). Hence, the notion of the absurd is defeated by rising above the worlds ultimate reality of
death by following Gods will. The contrast between the two worldviews is that while
existentialism laughs at absurdity and ignores it by focusing on the self, Christianity accepts it
and believe that, through following Gods will, the day will come when the world will no longer
be incoherent towards our resolve.
Furthermore, existentialism and Christianity are in disagreement about the application of
nihilism. Nihilism involves a rejection of any attempt to construct personal meaning, and an
identification of all meaning systems as vacuous and invalid, including both universal and
situationally specific meanings (McHoskey, John W., et al. 4). Organised religions are viewed
as empty shells that do not provide true meaning to the individual. The implication of this
worldview is that nihilism, which is in itself a belief system, is the exception because by
claiming that all belief systems are wrong, it must exclude itself to make that statement valid.
Despite nihilism not being compatible with Christianity, they are similar in that Christianity
claims no one comes to the Father except through [Jesus] (New International Version, John.
14. 6). The Father is a surname given to God, who gives meaning to an individuals life in the
Christian worldview. Stating that the only way one can come to God is through Jesus implies that
belief systems such as Buddhism and Hinduism, which are not centered on following Jesus in the
way Christianity does, do not provide real meaning to ones life. Hence, Christianity holds a
nihilist view towards other religions and belief systems. On the other hand, existentialist
philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche identifies nihilism as dangerous because, in a secular point of

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view, it is the state in which man finds no answer to the question of his existence (Burnham
and Papandreopoulos). Since nihilism denies the veracity of all worldviews and does not itself
provide any answers for fundamental questions, it is dangerous to the individual because the
meaning of life cannot be found. Nietzsche judges worldviews as ascetic and says they are
made to protect man against the danger of nihilism (Burnham and Papandreopoulos). Hence, it
does not matter if the different ideologies are fundamentally true or not; it is only important for
the individual to find his answers and his meaning somewhere to protect himself from nihilism.
The difference between Christianity and existentialism is that the former is similar to nihilism in
its way to disregard all other worldviews while the latter, in the secular point of view, stays away
from nihilism due to its need to find meaning in life.
Following the trend, Christianity and existentialism are in disagreement on who has the
authority over what is true (Christian Existentialism). Nietzsche believes the downfall of the
divine will segue into an individual who derives the meaning of its existence from within itself
and not from some authority external to it (Burnham and Papandreopoulos). It follows that
existentialists will give themselves the authority to choose and leave what they want from other
worldviews to create their own, constructing their personal truth. The Bible states that all
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to [Jesus] (New International Version, Matt. 28.
18), giving him the power to determine what is right and what is wrong. This means that
Christians must think about everything that the authority of Jesus allows and everything it
condemns before they act. The discrepancy between the two worldviews lies in the fact that
existentialism is not bound by the divine to determine truth while Christianity is accountable to
God for everything.

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To conclude, although secular existentialism share some similarities with Christianity, the
two worldviews are not compatible due to the numerous subjects upon which they disagree. They
both agree on the notion of an absurd world but have different methods of dealing with this fact.
Christianity shares similarities with nihilism while existentialism labels it as dangerous and they
do not share the same view on who has the authority over what is true. It would be interesting to
compare Christianity with non-secular existentialism to determine if they are more compatible.

Works Cited
Burnham, Douglas, and Papandreopoulos, George. Existentialism.Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
Christian Existentialism. AllAboutPhilosophy.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
Esteban, Maverick Jann. Camus' Definition of the Absurd. Thesis. N.d. N.p.: Maverick Jann
Estaban, n.d. Academia. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
McHoskey, John W., et al. Relativism, Nihilism, And Quest. Journal Of Social Behavior &
Personality 14.3 (1999): 445-462. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
New International Version. Biblehub.com, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.

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