Category: Soren Kierkegaard

Soren Kierkegaard v. melancholy

Cracking Up

Posted on February 16, 2012 by

Ken Kuhlken: At church, a guest speaker urged us toward open-hearted love for others, even the apparently lost. I appreciate this kind of urging, but only if it’s given along with clues that help us to love better. Otherwise, it’s…

Tagged with: Christ, depression, despair, drugs, Kierkegaard, psychology, sanctification

I Did It My Way

Posted on February 1, 2012 by

kenkuhlken Posted in Soren Kierkegaard

Having previously written about the despair of finitude and the despair of weakness, two of the three varieties of despair Soren Kierkegaard identifies, I’ll turn to the third, the despair of defiance. Those inflicted with this form of the disease…

Tagged with: Chinatown, depression, despair, history, Kierkegaard, melancholy, Nietzsche

Despair as Comedy

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

kenkuhlken Posted in Soren Kierkegaard

Soren Kierkegaard identifies three varieties of despair. Last week I described the despair of finitude, under the title “Get Real”. So I’ll move on to the “despair of weakness”, which he defines as “the despair of not wanting to be…

Tagged with: despair, eternity, guilt, Kierkegaard, weakness

Get Real

Posted on January 16, 2012 by

kenkuhlken Posted in Soren Kierkegaard

If Soren Kierkegaard wrote the truth, all we need do to overcome melancholy is get real. The catch is, getting real can be an arduous chore, which amounts to vanquishing despair. Kierkegaard taught that we all are inflicted with despair,…

Making room for the Infinite

Posted on January 2, 2012 by

kenkuhlken Posted in Soren Kierkegaard

Dallas Willard, in The Spirit of the Disciplines, advocates prayer, solitude and silence, meditation upon the life of Christ, sacrifice and service to others. He implies these disciplines will allow us to make room for what Soren Kierkegaard calls the…

Tagged with: Christ, Dallas Willard, God, Kierkegaard, meditation, sacrifice, silence

Soren Kierkegaard approves of Jesus Christ Superstar

Posted on December 27, 2011 by

kenkuhlken Posted in Soren Kierkegaard

Last evening I watched Jesus Christ Superstar. I hadn’t seen the film since the year of its release. The songs and choreography are fun, and the portrayal of Christ offers some thoughtful moments. The disciples and followers join in a…

A Christmas Carol

Posted on December 19, 2011 by

kenkuhlken Posted in Soren Kierkegaard

When I mention Soren Kierkegaard to people well-educated in the humanities, psychology, or Christian studies, I usually get a response of admiration along with a comment that he is hard to grasp. Though I let these responses pass without much…

Where Is Truth?

Posted on December 12, 2011 by

kenkuhlken Posted in Soren Kierkegaard

Soren Kierkegaard has been accused of forsaking reason in favor of searching for truth in the purely subjective. To that accusation, I say phooey. His argument concerning the objective and the subjective and their value in the search for truth…

What Is Truth?

Posted on December 5, 2011 by

kenkuhlken Posted in Soren Kierkegaard

“Truth is the work of freedom,” Kierkegaard wrote. “…truth exists for a particular individual only as he himself produces it in action.” We might test this theory by allowing ourselves freedom to experience a variety of attitudes, beliefs and actions…

Tagged with: beauty, Brother Lawrence, freedom, Ken Kuhlken, Kierkegaard, truth. Christ

Reasons to Believe

Posted on November 28, 2011 by

kenkuhlken Posted in Soren Kierkegaard

Sometime back, Tim Hardin came out with “Reason to Believe”. Here’s the beginning, and the song’s premise: “If I listened long enough to you I’d find a way to believe that it’s all true, Knowing that you lied straight-faced while…

Tagged with: belief, Christ, salvation, Soren Kierkegaard, teachers, Tim Hardin

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