# Chapter 20 explained — The Genealogy of Morals

> Chapter companion for The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche.

## What happens

Nietzsche traces the historical development of the feeling of indebtedness to the deity, arguing that it grew alongside the concept of God, culminating in the Christian God as the peak of guilt consciousness. He suggests that the decline of belief in the Christian God may lead to a decrease in guilt and the possibility of a 'second innocence' through atheism.

## Themes in this chapter

### Origin of Guilt and Bad Conscience

Explores how the feeling of indebtedness to the deity evolved and peaked with the Christian God.

### Historical Method and Genealogy

Uses historical analysis to trace the development of guilt consciousness and its connection to religious belief.

### Critique of Altruism and Pity Morality

Implicitly critiques the moral weight of guilt and debt as inherited from religious traditions.

## Character check-ins

### Nietzsche

Author presenting the historical genealogy of guilt and debt to the deity.

### the Germans

Implicitly referenced as inheritors of racial and tribal gods.

### the Jews

Implicitly referenced in the context of the heritage of racial gods and the slave revolt.

## Key lines

> The feeling of owing a debt to the deity has grown continuously for several centuries, always in the same proportion in which the idea of God and the consciousness of God have grown and become exalted among mankind.

The sense of indebtedness to God has increased over centuries, matching the rise and exaltation of the concept of God in human consciousness.

_Highlights the parallel growth of guilt and the idea of God._

> Atheism and a kind of second innocence complement and supplement each other.

Atheism and a renewed state of innocence go hand in hand.

_Suggests that the decline of belief in God may lead to a liberation from guilt._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters/20
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_genealogy_of_morals_se/chapters