--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What a theologian feels as true, must be…" description: "\"What a theologian feels as true, must be false: one has therein almost a criterion of truth\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_theologian_what-a-theologian-feels-as-true-must-be_2783150.jpg" --- # What a theologian feels as true, must be false: one has… ![“What a theologian feels as true, must be false: one has therein almost a criterion of truth” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_theologian_what-a-theologian-feels-as-true-must-be_2783150.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_theologian_what-a-theologian-feels-as-true-must-be_2783150.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_theologian_what-a-theologian-feels-as-true-must-be_2783150.jpg) > “What a theologian feels as true, must be false: one has therein almost a criterion of truth” [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. True theological claims may be false; truth is elusive and self‑referential. **In simple terms:** Theology’s truth claims are questionable. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about absolute truth. Themes philosophy truth theology skepticism epistemology Mood critical provocative intellectual Type philosophical skeptical When to use this quote - academic debate - personal reflection - ethical discussions Key Concepts critical thinking relativism self‑reflexivity Questions to Reflect On - What criteria define truth? - How does skepticism shape belief? A Different Perspective May be misinterpreted as nihilism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Criterion Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criterion-truth-1871529/) [False Criterion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/false-criterion-3325438/) [Theologian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theologian/) [Theologian Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theologian-feels-3325437/) [Theology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theology/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [Whatever a theologian regards as true must be false: there you have almost a criterion of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/whatever-a-theologian-regards-as-true-must-be-false-there-you-have/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The criterion of truth is that it works even if nobody is prepared to acknowledge it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/the-criterion-of-truth-is-that-it-works-even-if-nobody-is-prepared-to/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [If reason is a universal faculty, the decision of the common mind is the nearest criterion of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/if-reason-is-a-universal-faculty-the-decision-of-the-common-mind-is/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [To regard the successful experiences which ensue from a belief as a criterion of its truth is one thing--and a thing that is sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-pepperell-montague/to-regard-the-successful-experiences-which-ensue-from-a-belief-as-a/) [William Pepperell Montague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-pepperell-montague/) > [In the face of the idea that truth might afford the opposite of satisfaction and turn out to be completely shocking to humanity at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/in-the-face-of-the-idea-that-truth-might-afford-the-opposite-of/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [No Christian can avoid theology. 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Sometimes scientists build theories on the premises of faulty assumptions until they discover they were in error…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/it-s-impossible-to-do-science-without-faith-sometimes-scientists/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [I did not learn my theology all at once, but had to search constantly deeper and deeper for it. My temptations did that for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/i-did-not-learn-my-theology-all-at-once-but-had-to-search-constantly/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [“To be a Christian is to be a theologian—a student of God and his will. The church is where believers should be nurtured in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul-2/to-be-a-christian-is-to-be-a-theologian-a-student-of-god-and-his-will/) [R.C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul-2/) ## 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. 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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? 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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 Theologian quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [In the end theologians are jealous of science, for they are aware that it has greater authority than do their own ways of finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-a-coyne/in-the-end-theologians-are-jealous-of-science-for-they-are-aware-that/) [Jerry A. Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-a-coyne/) > [The Bible is shallow enough for a new believer to wade in, but deep enough for a theologian to drown in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-j-lawson/the-bible-is-shallow-enough-for-a-new-believer-to-wade-in-but-deep/) [Steven J Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-j-lawson/) > [Humor is the opposite of all self-admiration and self-praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/humor-is-the-opposite-of-all-self-admiration-and-self-praise/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) > [Perhapsthemost sublimeinsights oftheJewishprophets and the Christian gospel is the knowledge that since perfection is love, the apprehension of perfection is at once the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/perhapsthemost-sublimeinsights-ofthejewishprophets-and-the-christian/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. 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