Purt Near, But Not Plumb
While browsing through some old books in my library, I came across one written as part of a series for
preachers titled The Hero in Thy Soul. Written in 1928 by Arthur John Gossip, he declared on the Title Page of
the book that this was “AN ATTEMPT TO FACE LIFE GALLANTLY ... after which he quoted the popular
and vulgarly disrespectful philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, who popularized such statements as “God
is Dead”; “After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands”; and, “The tree
that would grow to heaven must send its roots to hell.” So, is it any wonder that I hesitate to penetrate farther
into the thinking of The Reverend Mr. Gossip? Or Friedrich Nietzsche, as far as that goes?