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Soren Kierkegaard's influence has been felt in many areas of human thought from theology to psychology. The nearly one hundred of his prayers gathered here from published works and private papers, not only illuminate his own life of prayer, but speak to the concerns of Christians today.

The second part of the volume is a reinterpretation of the life and thought of Kierkegaard. Long regarded as primarily a poet or a philosopher, Kierkegaard is revealed as a fundamentally religious thinker whose central problem was that of becoming a Christian, of realizing personal existence. Perry D. LeFevre's penetrating analysis takes the reader to the religious center of Kierkegaard's world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Authenticity
If only more Christians sought God as authentically and deeply as Kierkegaard did. The prayers that are prayed here are not meant to impress the reader or to demonstrate theological insights(though they most assuredly do), but are simply the product of a man who wanted nothing other than to know and please God.

An inspirational and thought-provoking collection of prayers
I have actually only read excerpts found in the book Devotional Classics.I was so moved and affected my the prayers including in that book, that I have been searching for the entire book.The prayers are insightful and thought provoking.They would make a terrific daily devotional. ... Read more

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Something long needed in Kierkegaard scholarship
This first volume of what is expected to be a 13-volume set marks an important milestone in Kierkegaard scholarship. It, when completed, will be a full English translation of all of Kierkegaard's voluminous private musing about all kinds of subjects. Until now, those who cannot read Danish were relegated to scattered translations of parts of these important writings. The best was the Hong's 6-volume "Journals and Papers," which had two major faults; it was incomplete and was organized by topics. The 13-volumes of this set will be chronological insofar as that is possible, and that will make it much easier to study Kierkegaard's development and progression of thought. I hope that this set will be published in a searchable electronic form and that the price becomes much more reasonable. ... Read more

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repetition, again, again
And so I too return to this work.There are many levels on which we understand repetition:philosophical, theological, mathematical.But I think that for Kierkegaard, the guiding and most important part was the connection of repetition and repentance.To truly repent is to wish to repeat but differently.I read this as a learned, but tortured meditation on him disappointing his fiance, in an abandonment that came precisely because he was frightened of disappointing her.That one moment haunted him, or, rather, he haunted it, returning to it like a hungry ghost.

And I used to read this book over and over again, late into the night by the light of a Coleman stove.It was the same book, and yet not the same, and not only because I once knocked over the stove and burnt part of it!But as I changed, the book was not the same to me.And this is what Kierkegaard realized about his own relationship.Because he could not return and be the same person, he could not even truly wish to undo the damage.So he went through the fancy of imagining living his life to shake free the guilt.But this was not a repentance and it was not a repetition.It was rather simply a change.

Certainly I sympathize with Kierkegaard--and even see certain parallels in our lives--but really, this is, ultimately, a person who just couldn't say "sorry."Instead of recognizing how he hurt his fiance, he makes it seem like he was the one hurt, by having to hurt.Yes, we sometimes do have to sacrifice the happiness of those we love to things we believe in [supra], but it seems that Kierkegaard was one of those people who, given something delicate, decides he'll break it sooner or later and just throws it to the ground.

There has always been something a bit phony about Kierkegaard--one anecdote sticks in my head.He met Caspar Wilhelm Smith who tried to get the philosopher's approval with some glib remarks about the reality of hangovers and such not.Nothing earth shattering, but something friendly.Kierkegaard shot out some rude put down, then turned his back, and went to a nearby cafe "to drink a cup of philosophical chocolate and meditate undisturbed upon Hegel."

I understand the idea of a philosophical chocolate, but if he wanted to be undisturbed, why was he walking around the street instead of home in his study?How did he happen to run into Smith?I bet he had been walking in circles around that cafe in downtown Copenhagen, just waiting to run into someone who would see him with his big copy of Hegel under his arm, on his way to get his chocolate.I bet he haunted that block, going around and around.Maybe that's where he got the idea for Repetition. [21]
... Read more

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The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard is one o f the masterthinkers of the modern age, a defining influence on existentialism andon twentieth-century theology, and this brilliantly tailored selectionfrom his vast and varied writings is a perfect introduction to hiswork.

W.H. Auden, who was deeply influenced by Kierkegaard, made thisselection by drawing on the full range of his published writings aswell as on the private journals he m aintained throughout hislife. Auden introduces the main themes of Kierkegaard's thought--hisinsis tence on the irreducible subjectivity of truth, his critique ofscientific objectivi ty, his dramatic presentation of the aesthetic,ethical, and religious ways of life, his subtle psychological analysisof despair and its relation to faith--while also doing justice to theextraordinary variety, ranging from aphoristic concision to unbuttoned polemic, of his talents as a writer.

This celebrated book, to which Auden co ntributed an influential essayas an introduction, is not only a remarkable ant hology of the work ofa central modern thinker but a meeting of two extraordinary mi nds.~ ... Read more

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Soren Kierkegaard is widely held to be the founder of existentialism.His faith is ironic, playful and passionate, and he wrote like a novelist.This book brilliantly explains his life and thought. ... Read more

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For Kierkegaard, truth is a subjective reality which we must live, not simply something to simply consider and discuss. His self-consciousness and self-examination highlight the practical demands of existence, and he opposes the speculative thinking of philosophical idealists. Kierkegaard says much of life's meaning depends not on external conditions, but on our internal choices about relating to them. He urges us to live with purpose and emphasizes that our task is not knowing but doing.

In Either/Or, he concentrates on sensual indulgence versus duty and the avant garde versus tradition. In Sickness Unto Death, Kierkegaard diagnoses a spiritual disease throughout society: despair. Kierkegaard argues that we are estranged from the source of our very being as we try to escape the moral responsibility of the self. ... Read more

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Encounters with Kierkegaard is a collection of every known eyewitness account of the great Danish thinker. Through many sharp observations of family members, friends and acquaintances, supporters and opponents, the life story of this elusive and remarkable figure comes into focus, offering a rare portrait of Kierkegaard the man.

Often viewed by his contemporaries as a person who deliberately cultivated an air of mystery and eccentricity, Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) has been, then and now, a subject of great speculation. His startling attack on the established church, his broken engagement with a young woman from a respected family, and his searing criticisms of literary figures--from the editors of The Corsair to Hans Christian Andersen--are among the acts that brought him much notoriety during his short lifetime. Yet arriving at a sense of the philosopher's personality and motives behind his behavior has been a difficult task. He left no memoirs of autobiography, but in the enormous cannon of his published writings, the author and the person Søren Kierkegaard is problematically present in a welter of disguises. An indispensable path to understanding what he was like as a person, maintains Bruce Kirmmse, is through the observations of his contemporaries.

These accounts, ranging from the writings of Meïr Aron Goldschmidt, editor of The Corsair, to the recollections of Kierkegaard's fiancée, are organized around the major episodes of the philosopher's life. They enable us to glimpse, among many things, his spiritual and intellectual development, to get a sense of what it was like to be the object of his friendship or his wrath, and to examine various persons' opinions about his relationship with his young fiancée. The memories of this woman, Regine Olsen, who later married Fritz Schlegel, are among the most moving passages: they reveal her profound suffering, her personal understanding of Kierkegaard, and the satisfaction she ultimately felt, knowing that "he took her with him into history." This collection of first-hand accounts invites the reader to compare and interpret a wealth of fascinating stories, and in the end forms an intriguing "do-it-yourself" biography for both the scholar and general reader. ... Read more

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PEOPLE WHO KNEW SOREN KIERKEGAARD
Bruce H. Kirmmse, editor
Encounters with Kierkegaard:
A Life as Seen by His Contemporaries

(Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1996) 358 pages
(ISBN: 0-691-01106-0; hardcover)
(Library of Congress call number: B4376.E43 1996)

Hundreds of people were acquainted with Søren Kierkegaard
during his short life, 1813-1855.
Every day he walked the streets of Copenhagen, Denmark,
where he lived his whole life.
This book is a remarkable collection of recollections
gathered from people who knew SK
---friends, relatives, colleagues, even critics.
These accounts were previously published in Danish,
in many different places and forms.
And now---a century and a half after the persons and events described---
these memories are published in English.
About 70 pages of notes explain who the writers were
and many of the obscure references in these letters, books,
recollections as told to others, etc.

These accounts provide deep insights into how
Kierkegaard's contemporaries understood him and reacted to him.
They knew SK as a person observed.
But one overwhelming impression for this reviewer
is that none of his contemporaries understood SK.
They sometimes appreciated his writings for their esthetic value.
But none shows any grasp of the central meanings
of the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard.

These personal accounts are all very interesting background material.
But to understand Kierkegaard, we must read his own words.

James Leonard Park, existential philosopher. ... Read more