Kierkegaard on the Epistemological Benefits of Faith: From Divine Hiddenness to Human Selfhood

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Abbreviations for Kierkegaard’s works

AN      Armed Neutrality. See On My Work as an Author.

CD      Christian Discourses, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.

EO II   Either/Or, Part Two, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987.

FSE     For Self-Examination and Judge For Yourself!, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.

JFY     Judge For Yourself! See For Self-Examination.

OMWA  On My Work as an Author, The Point of View for My Work as an Author, and Armed Neutrality, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998.

PC       Practice in Christianity, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.

PV       The Point of View for My Work as an Author. See On My Work as an Author.

SUD    The Sickness Unto Death, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.

TA       Two Ages: The Age of Revolution and the Present Age. A Literary Review, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978.

TM      “The Moment” and Late Writings, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998.

UDVS Upbuilding Discourses in Various Spirits, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.

WA     Without Authority, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.

WL      Works of Love, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.


[1] According to some, the typical qualification for being clearly offered is that it is beyond reasonable doubt for all concerned.

[2] Therefore, those who deal with this problem have a wide range of possible answers or solutions. Atheists deny that God exists. Agnostics withhold judgment. Some theists deny that God is all-powerful. Others argue that divine hiddenness is compatible with the existence of an omnipotent and all-loving God. Four drastically different views can be found by surveying the following: Paul K. Moser, The Elusive God: Reorienting Religious Epistemology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008); J.L. Schellenberg, Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1993); and Robert McKim, Religious Ambiguity and Religious Diversity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).

[3] A key to the abbreviations is found at the end of the paper.

[4] Kierkegaard constantly attacks the notion that Christianity is or ought to be equated with doctrine alone. See, e.g., CD, 214-215; WA, 187; PC, 106; FSE, 36, 39-40; JFY, 127-131; AN, 129.

[5] According to Kierkegaard, faith will be recognizable in this life (WL, 5-11; FSE, 18-19), and most especially insofar as one accepts Jesus as one’s “prototype” or “pattern” (UDVS, 197, 217, 225-226, 231-232, 240; WL, 264, 288; CD, 41-44, 54, 75, 122; WA, 158-159; PC, 184, 197-198, 202, 238-239, 243, 245; JFY, 147, 160, 169, 191, 198-199, 209). However, even the best human’s imitation of Jesus will fall short. Therefore, Jesus is not only prototype but also Redeemer and Savior, the one who grants rest and provides grace (WL, 3, 69; CD, 261, 298; WA, 123; PC, 151, 157; AN, 131; JFY, 147, 159).