This book looks at Kierkegaard with a fresh perspective shaped by the history of ideas, framed by the terms romanticism and modernism. 'Modernism' here refers to the kind of intellectual and literary modernism associated with Georg Brandes, and such later nineteenth and early twentieth century figures as J. P. Jacobsen, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Ibsen (all often associated with Kierkegaard in early secondary literature), and the young Georg Lukacs. This movement, currently attracting increasing scholarly attention, fed into such varied currents of twentieth century thought as Bolshevism (as in Lukacs himself), fascism, and the early existentialism of, e.g., Shestov and the radical culture journal The Brenner (in which Kierkegaard featured regularly, and whose readers included Martin Heidegger). Each of these movements has, arguably, its own 'Romantic' aspect and Kierkegaard thus emerges as a figure who holds together or in whom are reflected both the aspirations and contradictions of early romanticism and its later nineteenth and twentieth century inheritors. Kierkegaard's specific 'staging' of his authorship in the contemporary life of Copenhagen, then undergoing a rapid transformation from being the backward capital of an absolutist monarchy to a modern, cosmopolitan city, provides a further focus for the volume. In this situation the early Romantic experience of nature as providing a source of healing and an experience of unambiguous life is transposed into a more complex and, ultimately, catastrophic register. In articulating these tensions, Kierkegaard's authorship provided a mirror to his age but also anticipated and influenced later generations who wrestled with their own versions of this situation.

The nature of Kierkegaard’s political legacy is complicated by the religious character of his writings. Exploring Kierkegaard’s relevancy for this political-theological moment, this volume offers trans-disciplinary and multi-religious perspectives on Kierkegaard studies and political theology. Privileging contemporary philosophical and political-theological work that is based on Kierkegaard, this volume is an indispensable resource for Kierkegaard scholars, theologians, philosophers of religion, ethicists, and critical researchers in religion looking to make sense of current debates in the field. While this volume shows that Kierkegaard’s theological legacy is a thoroughly political one, we are left with a series of open questions as to what a Kierkegaardian interjection into contemporary political theology might look like. And so, like Kierkegaard’s writings, this collection of essays is an argument with itself, and as such, will leave readers both edified and scratching their heads—for all the right reasons.

For the first time, this collection brings together figures in both contemporary philosophy and Kierkegaard studies to explore pressing issues in the philosophy of personal identity and moral psychology.

Kierkegaard and the Refusal of Transcendence challenges the standard view that Kierkegaard's God is infinitely other than the world. It argues that his work immerses us in the paradoxical nature of existence itself, and opposes any flight into another world.

This study shows how Kierkegaard's mature theological writings reflect his engagement with the wide range of theological positions which he encountered as a student, including German and Danish Romanticism, Hegelianism and the writings of Fichte and Schleiermacher. George Pattison draws on both major and lesser-known works to show the complexity and nuances of Kierkegaard's theological position, which remained closer to Schleiermacher's affirmation of religion as a 'feeling of absolute dependence' than to the Barthian denial of any 'point of contact', with which he is often associated. Pattison also explores ways in which Kierkegaard's theological thought can be related to thinkers such as Heidegger and John Henry Newman, and its continuing relevance to present-day debates about secular faith. His volume will be of great interest to scholars and students of philosophy and theology.

Søren Kierkegaard’s vociferous attacks upon Christendom have hardly endeared him to the ecclesial establishment, yet the church continues to dismiss his paradoxical voice at its peril. This book moves beyond the ill-conceived postmodern interpretations of Kierkegaard’s thought by illuminating his ecclesiological value through a distinctly kerygmatic lens. Kierkegaard’s authorship demonstrated this mission in creative and arresting ways. His sharp critiques of academic theologians and duplicitous pastors remain starkly relevant today. Furthermore, his fascinating reflections on inconsequential sermons, biblical defamiliarity, indirect communication, pastoral correctivity, street preaching, revivalism, and even church furniture, further illustrate the ways he sought to reimply the gospel to a Christendom-poisoned church. Hearing Kierkegaard’s ecclesiological voice afresh, we also see its surprising applicability to the post-Christendom situation, which may like to think it has moved on without him. This book will intrigue anyone interested in the fundamental questions of what it means to hear (or not to hear) the gospel today, if we dare to allow our ears to do so.

This study considers the social and political aspects of Kierkegaard's authorship, building upon work over the last couple of decades. Dr Lappano focuses on Kierkegaard's writing between 1846 and 1852, the period of Kierkegaard's more explicitly politicized writing.

This companion explores Søren Kierkegaard's theological importance, offering a comprehensive reading of his work through a distinctly theological lens, including interpretative concerns, his approach to specific doctrines, and theological trajectories for thinking beyond his work. Beginning with essays on key interpretative factors involved in approaching Kierkegaard's complex corpus, there are also historical accounts of his theological development, followed by – for the first time in a single volume – focused expositions of Kierkegaard's approach to particular doctrinal themes, from those oft-discussed in his work (e.g. Christology) to those more understated (e.g. Pneumatology). The book concludes with theological trajectories for Kierkegaard's thought in the twenty-first century. This volume helps not only to situate Kierkegaard's theology more firmly on the map, but to situate Kierkegaard more firmly on the theological map, as one who has much to offer both the form and content of the theological task.

Discipleship is embodied. Formation in the Christian life is not an otherworldly exercise but one that plays out in this world, interwoven with everyday sensory experience in ordinary life. The Aesthetics of Discipleship explores this dynamic through Kierkegaard's framing of "aesthetic existence"--the sensory experience of being "in the moment"--further developed by Bonhoeffer, as operating within a realm of freedom, encompassing not only art but play, friendship, and cultural formation. In addition to Kierkegaard and Bonhoeffer, the work of Iain McGilchrist, Graham Ward, and Nicholas Wolterstorff is employed to offer a fresh perspective on discipleship, "from below": Everyday sensory experiences are integral not only to being human but to the practice of discipleship, such that discipleship integrates aesthetic, ethical, and religious existence. Aesthetic existence unhinged from a life of faith or fueled by distorted Christendom creates and sustains aestheticized pseudorealities centered on the self. Mature aesthetic existence, however, anchored in love for God, plays a fundamental role in the Christian life, both as the incarnational celebration of being fully human, and also through the preconscious formation of imaginaries by which we live.

While Kierkegaard is perhaps known best as a religious thinker and philosopher, there is an unmistakable literary element in his writings. He often explains complex concepts and ideas by using literary figures and motifs that he could assume his readers would have some familiarity with. This dimension of his thought has served to make his writings far more popular than those of other philosophers and theologians, but at the same time it has made their interpretation more complex. Kierkegaard readers are generally aware of his interest in figures such as Faust or the Wandering Jew, but they rarely have a full appreciation of the vast extent of his use of characters from different literary periods and traditions. The present volume is dedicated to the treatment of the variety of literary figures and motifs used by Kierkegaard. The volume is arranged alphabetically by name, with Tome I covering figures and motifs from Agamemnon to Guadalquivir.