Good 'Ol Søren

Maybe you've heard of Søren Kierkegaard. A Christian philosopher, he was a critic of the Danish church. It just so happens that his country is now mostly atheist--at least that's my impression. We met a couple of exchange student girls a few months ago in Memphis. They came to church with us and one night had ice cream with a group of us and our friends. Corey and I, fans--is it fair to say?--of Kierkegaard asked the girls if they had heard of him. One of them had. Neither girl believed in God, but one of them really enjoyed the singing in church. They were very polite and open to friendships with Christians. Corey and I got a big kick out of the Danish pronunciation of our admired philosopher's name.

Anyway, here is a little reflection on Kierkegaard in Overhearing the Gospel, but Fred Craddock:

[Kierkegaard's] charge was that the clergy and the professors did not trust the word of scripture, but were constantly building around it the scaffolding of eighteen centuries of dogma, tradition, ecclesiastical machinery, and claims of authority. Whenver he had opportunity to preach, invariably it was an occasion for sharing the promise and judgment of a text of scripture. Quite unlike the sermons and lectures of the church, the Bible for Kierkegaard had the quality of a conversation, between God and God's people.

Here are a few neat quotes from Kierkegaard's writings regarding what I would call the risk of faith:

If I am capable of grasping God objectively, I do not believe, but precisely because I cannot do this I must believe.

It is so hard to believe because it is so hard to obey.

During the first period of a man's life the greatest danger is not to take the risk.