Has the celebrated story been really understood which stands at the commencement of the Bible--the story of God's mortal terror of _science_? It has not been understood. This priest-book _par excellence_ begins appropriately with the great inner difficulty of the priest: he has only one great danger, consequently "God" has only one great danger.-- The old God, entire "spirit," entire high priest, entire perfection, promenades in his garden: he only wants pastime. Against tedium even Gods struggle in vain. What does he do? He contrives man--man is entertaining.... But behold, man also wants pastime. The pity of God for the only distress which belongs to all paradises has no bounds: he forthwith created other animals besides. The _first_ mistake of God: man did not find the animals entertaining--he ruled over them, but did not even want to be an "animal"--God consequently created woman. And, in fact, there was now an end of tedium--but of other things also! Woman was the _second_ mistake of God.--"Woman is in her essence a serpent, Hera"--every priest knows that: "from woman comes _all_ the mischief in the world"--every priest knows that likewise. _Consequently_, _science_ also comes from her.... Only through woman did man learn to taste of the tree of knowledge.--What had happened? The old God was seized by a mortal terror. Man himself had become his _greatest_ mistake, he had created a rival, science makes _godlike_; it is at an end with priests and Gods, if man becomes scientific!--_Moral_: science is the thing forbidden in itself--it alone is forbidden. Science is the _first_ sin, the germ of all sin, _original_ sin. _This alone is morality._--"Thou shalt _not_ know:"--the rest follows therefrom.--By his mortal terror God was not prevented from being shrewd. How does one _defend_ one's self against science? That was for a long time his main problem. Answer: away with man, out of paradise! Happiness and leisure lead to thoughts,--all thoughts are bad thoughts.... Man _shall_ not think--and the "priest in himself" contrives distress, death, the danger of life in pregnancy, every kind of misery, old age, weariness, and above all _sickness_,--nothing but expedients in the struggle against science! Distress does not _permit_ man to think.... And nevertheless! frightful! the edifice of knowledge towers aloft, heaven-storming, dawning on the Gods,--what to do!--The old God contrives _war_, he separates the peoples, he brings it about that men mutually annihilate one another (the priests have always had need of war ...). War, among other things, a great disturber of science!--Incredible! Knowledge, the _emancipation from the priest_, augments even in spite of wars.--And a final resolution is arrived at by the old God: "man has become scientific,--_there is no help for it, he must be drowned!_" ... * * *