Series: Kierkegaard as a Christian Thinker

Discipleship guidance from the writings of Kierkegaard 

Genuine Christian character often runs counter to prevailing notions of Christianity—as much in today’s era of nationalistic religiosity as in the staid Christendom of Søren Kierkegaard’s time. Kierkegaard responded to the hypocrisy around him by becoming a missionary of sorts in the Western world. Through his writing he exposed the illusions of conventional wisdom while advancing a compelling vision of the true Christian life that would give rise to essential virtues like faith, hope, love, patience, gratitude, and humility. What might Kierkegaard say to us today about recovering a genuine Christian character amid manifold corruptions of the gospel? 

Robert C. Roberts guides the reader through Kierkegaard’s thought about character—clarifying while never unduly simplifying—to show how Kierkegaard’s prescient psychological insights can be applied in the lives of twenty-first-century Christians interested in personal formation. Taking on a Kierkegaardian voice of his own, Roberts powerfully illustrates how virtue arises not from the mastery of individual ethical principles but from the continuity of one’s soul with the heart of God.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Kierkegaard’s Mission
Part One: The Psychological Framework
          1. Human Nature
          2. Character
          3. Flight from Character
          4. Virtues
          5. Sin
          6. Passion and Thought
          7. Understanding and Rhetoric
Part Two: Features of Christian Character
          8. Joy
          9. Faith
          10. Hope
          11. Love
          12. Humility
          13. Patience
          14. Gratitude
Concluding Postscript