Old, according to the ecclesiastical view of the matter, is just that
existing between my ethical system and the moral philosophy of Europe.
The Old Testament represents man as under the dominion of Law, in
which, however, there is no redemption. The New Testament declares
Law to have failed, frees man from its dominion,[1] and in its stead
preaches the kingdom of grace, to be won by faith, love of neighbor
and entire sacrifice of self. This is the path of redemption from the
evil of the world. The spirit of the New Testament is undoubtedly
asceticism, however your protestants and rationalists may twist it to
suit their purpose. Asceticism is the denial of the will to live; and
the transition from the Old Testament to the New, from the dominion
of Law to that of Faith, from justification by works to redemption
through the Mediator, from the domain of sin and death to eternal life
in Christ, means, when taken in its real sense, the transition from
the merely moral virtues to the denial of the will to live. My
philosophy shows the metaphysical foundation of justice and the love
of mankind, and points to the goal to which these virtues necessarily
lead, if they are practised in perfection. At the same time it is
candid in confessing that a man must turn his back upon the world, and
that the denial of the will to live is the way of redemption. It is
therefore really at one with the spirit of the New Testament, whilst
all other systems are couched in the spirit of the Old; that is
to say, theoretically as well as practically, their result is
Judaism--mere despotic theism. In this sense, then, my doctrine might
be called the only true Christian philosophy--however paradoxical a
statement this may seem to people who take superficial views instead
of penetrating to the heart of the matter.

[Footnote 1: Cf. Romans vii; Galatians ii, iii.]