Kierkegaard And The Changelessness Of God

Danish theologian and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard was not afraid to express his opinions. Living amid what he perceived to be a culturally lukewarm Christianity, he was often critical of his contemporary church. But that does not mean Kierkegaard rejected traditional Christian theology. Indeed, at a time when many of his contemporaries were questioning the classical doctrine of God, Kierkegaard swam against the stream by maintaining orthodox Christian beliefs. In this volume in IVP Academic's New Explorations in Theology series, Craig A. Hefner explores Kierkegaard's reading of Scripture and his theology to argue not only that the great Dane was a modern defender of the doctrine of divine immutability (or God's changelessness) in response to the disintegration of the self, but that his theology can be a surprising resource today. Even as the church continues to be beset by "shifting shadows" (James 1:17), Kierkegaard can remind us of the good and perfect gifts that come from an unchanging God.

On 18 December 1854 Kierkegaard began to publish a series of newspaper articles critical of the Danish state church. This book views these writings not only in the context of the theological, philosophical, and social events of that time but also the 2005-2006 Danish cartoon controversy.

The first comprehensive introduction to cover the entire span ofKierkegaard’s authorship. Explores how the two strands of his writing—religiousdiscourses and pseudonymous literary creations—influencedeach other Accompanies the reader chronologically through all thephilosopher’s major works, and integrates his writing intohis biography Employs a unique “how to” approach to help thereader discover individual texts on their own and to help themclosely examine Kierkegaard’s language Presents the literary strategies employed inKierkegaard’s work to give the reader insight intosubtext

Invoking the biblical motif of Jacob's struggle with the Face of God (Genesis 32), Simon D. Podmore undertakes a constructive theological account of 'spiritual trial' (tentatio; known in German mystical and Lutheran tradition as Anfechtung) in relation to enduring questions of the otherness and hiddenness of God and the self, the problem of suffering and evil, the freedom of Spirit, and the anxious relationship between temptation and ordeal, fear and desire. This book traces a genealogy of spiritual trial from medieval German mystical theology, through Lutheran and Pietistic thought (Tauler; Luther; Arndt; Boehme), and reconstructs Kierkegaard's innovative yet under-examined recovery of the category (AnfAegtelse: a Danish cognate for Anfechtung) within the modern context of the 'spiritless' decline of Christendom. Developing the relationship between struggle (Anfechtung) and release (Gelassenheit), Podmore proposes a Kierkegaardian theology of spiritual trial which elaborates the kenosis of the self before God in terms of Spirit's restless longing to rest transparently in God. Offering an original rehabilitation of the temptation of spiritual trial, this book strives for a renewed theological hermeneutic which speaks to the enduring human struggle to realise the unchanging love of God in the face of spiritual darkness.

We live spiritually when we live in the presence of God. The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard is often read for his contributions to Christian theology, but he also has much to offer about spirituality—both Christian and more generally human. C. Stephen Evans assesses Kierkegaard’s belief that true spirituality should be seen as accountability: the grateful recognition of our existence as gift. Spirituality takes on a Christian flavor when one recognizes in Jesus Christ the human incarnation of the God who gives us being. In this clearly written and substantive book a leading scholar on Kierkegaard’s thought makes Kierkegaard’s contributions to spirituality accessible not only to philosophers and theologians but to pastors, spiritual directors, and lay Christians. The Kierkegaard and Christian Thought series, coedited by C. Stephen Evans and Paul Martens, aims to promote an enriched understanding of nineteenth-century philosopher-theologian Søren Kierkegaard in relation to other key figures in theology and key theological concepts.

Kierkegaard was a Christian thinker perhaps best known for his devastating attack upon Christendom or the established order of his time. Sylvia Walsh explores his understanding of Christianity and the existential mode of thinking theologically appropriate to it in the context of the intellectual, cultural, and socio-political milieu of his time.

Most of what is written on Kierkegaard today is for the college classroom and academic conferences. The guiding question of this book is that if Kierkegaard's words about Christianity are true, how do they change the way we learn and practice the Christian faith today? This book is an answer to that question. It does not enter into an extended critical discussion over the truth of Kierkegaard's ideas. Instead it just believes what Kierkegaard said and runs with it. It does that by showing how his ideas change our understanding of Christian identity, suffering and illness, worship and preaching, the Bible, baptism, prayer, marriage and divorce, criticism, and the Christian minister. Interspersed are many quotations from Martin Luther, whose thought significantly shaped Kierkegaard's. At the end of the book is a hefty collection of sermons to show how all of this can be preached in the church. What Kierkegaard for the Church adds to our understanding of Kierkegaard is the place of the church in his thought. Because of his criticisms of the Danish state church and his stress on the need for the single individual to appropriate Christian teachings, it could be imagined that he rejected the church. But that would be to throw the baby out with the bath. The fact is that Kierkegaard remained a loyal son of the church even while he attacked it. And he did this only so he could strengthen what he loved.