Kierkegaard"s Writings, XVII (ebook)

Argumento de Kierkegaard"s Writings, XVII (ebook)

First published in 1848, Christian Discourses is a quartet of pieces written and arranged in contrasting styles. Parts One and Three, "The Cares of the Pagans" and "Thoughts That Wound from Behind--for Upbuilding," serve as a polemical overture to Kierkegaard's collision with the established order of Christendom. Yet Parts Two and Four, "Joyful Notes in the Strife of Suffering" and "Discourses at the Communion on Fridays," are reassuring affirmations of the joy and blessedness of Christian life in a world of adversity and suffering. Written in ordinary language, the work combines simplicity and inwardness with reflection and presents crucial Christian concepts and presuppositions with unusual clarity.

Kierkegaard continued in the pattern that he began with his first pseudonymous esthetic work, Either/Or, by pairing Christian Discourses with The Crisis, an unsigned esthetic essay on contemporary Danish actress Joanne Luise Heiberg.

"The definitive edition of the Writings. The first volume . . . indicates the scholarly value of the entire series: an introduction setting the work in the context of Kierkegaard's development; a remarkably clear translation; and concluding sections of intelligent notes."--Library Journal0Historical Introduction Pt. 1 The Cares of the Pagans 3 Introduction 9 I The Care of Poverty 13 II The Care of Abundance 23 III The Care of Lowliness 37 IV The Care of Loftiness 48 V The Care of Presumptuousness 60 VI The Care of Self-Torment 70 VII The Care of Indecisiveness, Vacillation, and Disconsolateness 81 Pt. 2 States of Mind in the Strife of Suffering 93 I The Joy of It: That One Suffers Only Once But Is Victorious Eternally 95 II The Joy of It: That Hardship Does Not Take Away But Procures Hope 106 III The Joy of It: That the Poorer You Become the Richer You Are Able to Make Others 114 IV The Joy of It: That the Weaker You Become the Stronger God Becomes in You 124 V The Joy of It: That What You Lose Temporally You Gain Eternally 134 VI The Joy of It: That When I "Gain Everything" I Lose Nothing at All 144 VII The Joy of It: That Adversity Is Prosperity 150 Pt. 3 Thoughts That Wound from Behind - for Upbuilding 161 I Watch Your Step When You Go to the House of the Lord 163 II "See, We Have Left Everything and Followed You; What Shall We Have?" (Matthew 19:27) - and What Shall We Have? 176 III All Things Must Serve Us for Good - When We Love God 188 IV There Will Be the Resurrection of the Dead, of the Righteous - and of the Unrighteous 202 V We Are Closer to Salvation Now - Than When We Became Believers 214 VI But It Is Blessed - to Suffer Mockery for a Good Cause 222 VII He Was Believed in the World 234 Pt. 4 Discourses at the Communion on Fridays 247 Preface 249 I Luke 22:15 251 II Matthew 11:28 262 III John 10:27 268 IV I Corinthians 11:23 275 V II Timothy 2:12-13 282 VI I John 3:20 289 VII Luke 24:51 296 The Crisis and a Crisis in the Life of an Actress 301 Addendum: Phister as Captain Scipio 327 Supplement 345 Editorial Appendix 429 Notes 439 Bibliographical Note 467 Index 469