The Madman and Killing God

In 1882—seven years before his descent into madness—Friedrich Nietzsche published a parable called The Madman. In the parable, a madman comes into a village on a bright, sunny morning holding aloft a lantern and crying, “I seek God! I seek God!” This absurdity elicits laughter and mockery from the villagers. The madman then jumps into their midst with a wild look in his eyes, 

“Whither is God?” he cried; “I will tell you.…