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| Soren Kierkegaard |
Soren Kierkegaard was an amazing philosopher moved by the philosophy of his time and the situation with Christianity. Many know Kierkegaard as the father of existentialism. Though this term carries differing connotations, I hope to clarify Kierkegaard's meaning of existentialism. Kierkegaard reacted to philosophies of his day, including Hegel and Hegel's reaction to Kant. Along with this, Kierkegaard wanted to reveal to Christianity the dilapidation of its status quo and present path.
To begin to understand Kierkegaard, it is important to understand some background information. Kierkegaard was born on May 5, 1813 in Copenhagen. During Kierkegaard's life, his father made an impact on how Kierkegaard saw life. Michael Kierkeggard, Soren's father, led a very depressed life--always looking for God to strike him down, because of Michael Kierkegaard's past. This melancholy and outlook of doom seemed to pass on to Soren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard's father died when Kierkegaard was only 25 years old.
By 1840, Kierkegaard finished schooling in theology. At this time in his life, Kierkegaard began to live a life estranged from the norm of his cultural context, devoting his time to the development of his religious experience and the publication of articles of philosophy and theological matters. A significant amount of Kierkegaard's works were polemical in nature. In the arena of philosophy, Kierkegaard mainly wrangled with Hegelian philosophy.
Georg Hegel promoted the idea that history is summed as: thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Known as Hegel's dialectic, this riled Kierkegaard to the core of his being. Hegel's dialectic assumed that history and life are linearly easy to understand; they are cut and dry. Kierkegaard attacked Hegel's position by writing how messy life truly is. One cannot explain everything solely thesis, antithesis, and synthesis! That is preposterous.
As noted earlier, many regard Kierkegaard as the father of existentialism. What exactly is meant by existentialism? Today, many take this to be the postmodern viewpoint of the subjectivity of truth--meaning that my truth may be different than your truth, yet it is nonetheless truth. This is not what Kierkegaard believed. When on looks at Kierkegaard's writing, he believed in absolute truth. People see truth objectively, but it needs to also be experienced in one's own life. This is what he meant, that though truth is objective, it is important that the objective truth is experienced within.
Kierkegaard saw the course of the church, mainly talking about the Danish church, as on a wrong heading. The rudder of the church, though aimed straight, led the church down a non-Christian path. One thing that Kierkegaard said was, "In a world where everyone is Christian, no one is Christian." The church, and people within the church, were not living out the Christian life. For Kierkegaard, the idea of a path in life where one must exercise faith and make choices based on faith was central to the vitality of the Christian life. If one did not make choices and step out in faith, he or she was not truly living out the faith, but rather living a life of complacency where one did not have to truly live. The church was not producing true Christians, but rather mindless people who followed blindly and were not required to live. To Kierkegaard, people are most fully human when they make choices. Christians are most fully Christians when they have to make decisions based on faith in their lives to walk with God.
There are three categories Kierkegaard built to explain the existence of people: the Aesthetic, the Ethical, and the Religious. The aesthetics are those who look for the good in life. These are the people who live seeking pleasure in every moment. A characteristic of this category is that the aesthetics are amoral, meaning that they do not have morals, but merely want to experience life. The ethical includes everyone who begins to question the difference between right and wrong. People in this category try to live a good life and know right from wrong. By Kierkegaard's understanding, most people fall in this category. The final category is the religious. People who fall in the religious category are people who move away from asking what is right and wrong to pushing "the end" as the most important thing. This category views God's ethics as not based on the ethics of humans, but that His ethics are above humanity's ethics. Therefore, sometimes humans may not understand the reason why things happen, but must step forward in a "leap of faith."
As one surveys all of this, one sees how important Kierkegaard was to philosophy and theology of his time. Not only was Kierkegaard an important character of the past, but he says a lot that is important for theologians and philosophers of today. Kierkegaard's stress of the personal individual walk characterized by choices and leaps of faith is a powerful idea for today where much of modern Protestantism needs to hear a similar message as to the one Kierkegaard gave the Danish church. Christians in the mainline churches are not required to live lives that walk by faith, and Kierkegaard's message is vital for today's American Christians. Kierkegaard provided a foundation in philosphy and the Christian faith that is vital and totally applicable for today.
"In a world where everyone is Christian, no one is Christian."
"Is reason then alone baptized, are the passions pagans?"
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