---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Christianity has done its utmost to close…"
description: "\"Christianity has done its utmost to close the circle and declared even doubt to be sin. One is supposed to be cast into belief without reason, by a mir..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ambiguous_christianity-has-done-its-utmost-to-clos_1264701.jpg"
---

#  Christianity has done its utmost to close the circle and…

![“Christianity has done its utmost to close the circle and declared even doubt to be sin. One is supposed to be cast into belief without reason, by a miracle, and from then on to swim in it as in the brightest and least ambiguous of elements: even a glance towards land, even the thought that one…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ambiguous_christianity-has-done-its-utmost-to-clos_1264701.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ambiguous_christianity-has-done-its-utmost-to-clos_1264701.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ambiguous_christianity-has-done-its-utmost-to-clos_1264701.jpg)

> “Christianity has done its utmost to close the circle and declared even doubt to be sin. One is supposed to be cast into belief without reason, by a miracle, and from then on to swim in it as in the brightest and least ambiguous of elements: even a glance towards land, even the thought that one perhaps exists for something else as well as swimming, even the slightest impulse of our amphibious nature”

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Nietzsche argues that Christianity suppresses doubt and rational inquiry, demanding blind faith and labeling questioning as sinful.

**In simple terms:** Christianity demands blind faith and bans doubt.

Key Takeaway

Question authority and seek reason.

Themes

religion faith reason authority doubt

Mood

critical reflective

Type

philosophical controversial

When to use this quote

- academic debate
- personal belief crisis
- interfaith dialogue

Key Concepts

existentialism critique of religion faith vs reason

Questions to Reflect On

- How does doubt serve personal growth?
- Can faith and reason coexist peacefully?

A Different Perspective

Religious belief often coexists with rational doubt.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Ambiguous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguous/) [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Casts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/casts/) [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Christianity Utmost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity-utmost-4032245/) [Circles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circles/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Doubt Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt-sin-450406/) [Elements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elements/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Glances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glances/) [Impulse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/) [Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land/) [Miracle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miracle/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Purpose and meaning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose-and-meaning/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Sin Supposed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin-supposed-983756/) [Supposed to be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supposed-to-be/) [Swim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swim/) [Swimming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swimming/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Without reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without-reason/)

## Related quotes

> [“Doubt as sin. — Christianity has done its utmost to close the circle and declared even doubt to be sin. One is supposed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/doubt-as-sin-christianity-has-done-its-utmost-to-close-the-circle-and/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“This is a Christian country, my dear brother, and the wages of sin are supposed to be death, not eight bob of the taxpayers’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/this-is-a-christian-country-my-dear-brother-and-the-wages-of-sin-are/)

[P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/)

> [Ignorance itself is without a doubt a sin for those who do not wish to understand; for those who, however, cannot understand, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/ignorance-itself-is-without-a-doubt-a-sin-for-those-who-do-not-wish/)

[Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/)

> [Doubt--because doubt is not a sin, it is a sign of your intelligence. You are not responsible to any nation, to any church, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/doubt-because-doubt-is-not-a-sin-it-is-a-sign-of-your-intelligence/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Doubt is not a sin, it is a sign of your intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/doubt-is-not-a-sin-it-is-a-sign-of-your-intelligence/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Christianity also stands in opposition to intellectual, as well as physical, health. To doubt becomes sin. 'Faith means not wanting to know what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheaffer/christianity-also-stands-in-opposition-to-intellectual-as-well-as/)

[Robert Sheaffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheaffer/)

> [“Before the war, a white man named Jonathan Edwards came to Stockbridge to teach my people about sin, but I doubt very much he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-clare/before-the-war-a-white-man-named-jonathan-edwards-came-to-stockbridge/)

[Pamela Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-clare/)

> [Connection gives purpose and meaning to our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/connection-gives-purpose-and-meaning-to-our-lives/)

[Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/)

> [What is the purpose and meaning and nature of sexual intercourse? It seems to me to be quite clear. It's for two things. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-e-smith/what-is-the-purpose-and-meaning-and-nature-of-sexual-intercourse-it/)

[Janet E. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-e-smith/)

> [Love gives life purpose and meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/love-gives-life-purpose-and-meaning/)

[Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/)

> [It is a rare person who can pierce the veil between ordinarly life, consumed with matters of physical survival, and pursuit of the empowered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/it-is-a-rare-person-who-can-pierce-the-veil-between-ordinarly-life/)

[Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/)

> [If we keep a goal firmly in mind, we will know when we have reached it. This gives us a sense of accomplishment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/if-we-keep-a-goal-firmly-in-mind-we-will-know-when-we-have-reached-it/)

[Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/)

> [A person of character seeks true happiness in living a life of purpose and meaning, placing a higher value on significance than success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-josephson/a-person-of-character-seeks-true-happiness-in-living-a-life-of/)

[Michael Josephson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-josephson/)

> [For some individuals - some soldiers, some contractors - combat provides a kind of purpose and meaning beyond which all else potentially pales in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-bigelow/for-some-individuals-some-soldiers-some-contractors-combat-provides-a/)

[Kathryn Bigelow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-bigelow/)

> [Our lives are programmed at conception and are endowed with purpose and meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeane-dixon/our-lives-are-programmed-at-conception-and-are-endowed-with-purpose/)

[Jeane Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeane-dixon/)

## More by Friedrich Nietzsche

> [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/79-a-soul-which-knows-that-it-is-loved-but-does-not-itself-love/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“The great periods of our life occur when we gain the courage to rechristen what is bad about us as what is best.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-great-periods-of-our-life-occur-when-we-gain-the-courage-to/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“What is life? Life - that is: continually shedding something that wants to die. Life - that is: being cruel and inexorable against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-life-life-that-is-continually-shedding-something-that-wants/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“he does not wear a twitching, mobile, human face, but rather a mask, as it were, with its features in dignified equilibrium; he does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-does-not-wear-a-twitching-mobile-human-face-but-rather-a-mask-as/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Of all that is written I love only what a man has written in his own blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/of-all-that-is-written-i-love-only-what-a-man-has-written-in-his-own/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

[Explore all 3,486 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

## More Ambiguous quotes

> [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/)

[Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/)

> [Happiness can be bought with a bottle of wine and has become ambiguous through overuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-can-be-bought-with-a-bottle-of-wine-and-has-become/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Somehow, in the novel format, I don't really like to do upfront, ideological discussion. In my heart, literature remains a poetic and ambiguous medium.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaolu-guo/somehow-in-the-novel-format-i-don-t-really-like-to-do-upfront/)

[Xiaolu Guo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaolu-guo/)

> [Redundancy is ambiguous because it seems like a waste if nothing unusual happens. Except that something unusual happens-usually .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/redundancy-is-ambiguous-because-it-seems-like-a-waste-if-nothing/)

[Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/)

> [“In general we are reminded that the word heimlich is not unambiguous, but belongs to two sets of ideas, which, without being contradictory, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/in-general-we-are-reminded-that-the-word-heimlich-is-not-unambiguous/)

[Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/)

> [I want each poem to be ambiguous enough that its meaning can shift, depending on the reader's own frame of reference, and depending on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-arthur/i-want-each-poem-to-be-ambiguous-enough-that-its-meaning-can-shift/)

[James Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-arthur/)

> [Photography appears to be an easy activity; in fact it is a varied and ambiguous process in which the only common denominator among its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/photography-appears-to-be-an-easy-activity-in-fact-it-is-a-varied-and/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [My drawings inspire, and are not to be defined. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous realm of the undetermined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odilon-redon/my-drawings-inspire-and-are-not-to-be-defined-they-place-us-as-does/)

[Odilon Redon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odilon-redon/)

> [Words are such gross machinery, so primitive and ambiguous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/words-are-such-gross-machinery-so-primitive-and-ambiguous/)

[Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/)

> [Wave particle duality is a core feature of our world. Or rather, we should say, it is a core feature of our mathematical descriptions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/wave-particle-duality-is-a-core-feature-of-our-world-or-rather-we/)

[Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/)

> [Humor is really one of the hardest things to define, very hard. And it's very ambiguous. You have it or you don't. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-b-ll/humor-is-really-one-of-the-hardest-things-to-define-very-hard-and-it/)

[Heinrich Böll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-b-ll/)

> [I was perceiving myself as good as a man or equal to a man and as powerful and I wanted to look ambiguous because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/i-was-perceiving-myself-as-good-as-a-man-or-equal-to-a-man-and-as/)

[Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/)

> [I was always, like, ambiguous. Is that how you say it? When I was turning 16 I talked to my mom about transitioning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adore-delano/i-was-always-like-ambiguous-is-that-how-you-say-it-when-i-was-turning/)

[Adore Delano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adore-delano/)

> [I am Indian-American, but I often play ethnically ambiguous roles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiya-sircar/i-am-indian-american-but-i-often-play-ethnically-ambiguous-roles/)

[Tiya Sircar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiya-sircar/)

> [Humor is really one of the hardest things to define, very hard. And it's very ambiguous. You have it, or you don't. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-b-ll/humor-is-really-one-of-the-hardest-things-to-define-very-hard-and-it-2/)

[Heinrich Boll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-b-ll/)

[Browse all 271 Ambiguous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguous/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Christianity has done its utmost to close the circle and declared even doubt to be sin. One is supposed to be cast into belief without reason, by a miracle, and from then on to swim in it as in the brightest and least ambiguous of elements: even a glance towards land, even the thought that one perhaps exists for something else as well as swimming, even the slightest impulse of our amphibious nature",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/christianity-has-done-its-utmost-to-close-the-circle-and-declared/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Ambiguous"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/christianity-has-done-its-utmost-to-close-the-circle-and-declared/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ambiguous_christianity-has-done-its-utmost-to-clos_1264701.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ambiguous_christianity-has-done-its-utmost-to-clos_1264701.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fa/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ambiguous_christianity-has-done-its-utmost-to-clos_1264701.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Christianity has done its utmost to close the circle and declared even doubt to be sin. One is supposed to…” — Friedrich Nietzsche",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Christianity has done its utmost to...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/christianity-has-done-its-utmost-to-close-the-circle-and-declared/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/christianity-has-done-its-utmost-to-close-the-circle-and-declared/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
