Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
Kierkegaard on Luther

Kierkegaard on Luther

Last updated on: August 12, 2015 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

0 Comments

Kierkegaard on Luther 2015-08-11T20:30:33-04:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We keep hearing that today’s church needs to change; that is to say, it needs reformation. What will it take to reform the church? The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, credited or blamed for inventing existentialism, took up this same question. First of all, he said, we need a reformer. And the reformer needs to be like Martin Luther.

It’s fascinating–and perhaps an entry into the mindset of today’s existentialists–to see what Kierkegaard saw in Luther. Read that after the jump, and click the link to see what he had to say about reform and false reform in the church.

From Cassandra Swick, A Radical Call | The Living Church:

Søren Kierkegaard’s requirements for those who would reform the Church are extraordinarily high and are meant to apply to very few people — he expects no such worthy reformers in his own age, though he would gladly be “all bows and deference to him, the extraordinary” (all citations from For Self Examination/Judge for Yourself! trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong ([Princeton, 1990], p. 211). The model he holds up as the true reformer is Martin Luther, “only one solitary man … disciplined in all secrecy by fear and trembling and much spiritual trial for venturing the extraordinary in God’s name” (p. 213). Each aspect of this description is essential to what Kierkegaard requires of the reformer.

First, the reformer must be a single individual with “an immediate relationship with God” (p. 211). For Kierkegaard, Luther could not have been the reformer he was if he had been anything other than one solitary man — for instance, if he had been someone who defined himself primarily by social consensus and who shunned the wisdom found in prayerful solitude. God’s Word, and the introspection required to be shaped by it, cannot be heard if one falls prey to the sort of worldly communication “designed merely to jolt the senses or to stir up the masses, the crowd, the public, noise!” (p. 48). The heart requires silence to hear God.

Second, the reformer must be “disciplined in all secrecy by fear and trembling and much spiritual trial.” It should be clear to us now what Kierkegaard might mean by “in all secrecy.” The reformer’s heart should be in a personal relationship with God that can only be nurtured by silence. But we learn something more: the reformer is disciplined by something or someone external. Some radical form of transformation is required, attained from the intense humility and suffering of fear and trembling and spiritual trial.

Finally, only then, transformationally disciplined, is the reformer prepared for “venturing the extraordinary in God’s name.” Kierkegaard does not give any specific examples here of what venturing the extraordinary might look like, and this is perhaps intentional. For him, venturing reliance upon God is something that is qualitatively different from the categories of this world, requiring us to “relinquish probability,” which refers to our attachment to specific worldly outcomes (p. 100). Venturing is “eternally … your victory,” but “it is just as possible, precisely as possible, to fail as to succeed” (p. 100). The reformer, then, is equipped to venture the extraordinary in God’s name, but there is no guarantee that anything will go as envisioned. Disciplined by God in solitude and in fear and trembling, the reformer is in a position to refer all that happens to God’s authority, and to be free from dangerous earthly attachments that can jeopardize true, God-driven reformation.

It is not surprising that Kierkegaard, with such a high view of the vocation of the reformer, warns very strongly against the dangers of those who bring false reform. He writes that “dabblers in reforming are more corrupting than the most corrupt established order, because reforming is the highest and therefore dabbling in it is the most corrupt of all” (p. 212). This view might seem extreme, but if a reformer must be thoroughly transformed by God in fear and trembling before being in a position to do any reforming, the corruption is that the dabbler’s reformation comes from human and not divine authority. Reformation on human terms can introduce some troubling and self-centered motivations, for instance with those people who would reform “in such a way that reforming becomes a pleasure, a profit, etc., instead of its being in the highest sense a matter of being willing to reform, that it means bringing sacrifices, being willing to suffer” (p. 131).

[Keep reading. . .]

Previous Post

August 12, 2015

Why there is heroin in the heartland

Next Post

August 13, 2015 Could Google steal the election?

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I know wired earbuds are making a comeback (I never stopped using them as I ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"VCRs, tape decks, and cassette players are all having a revival among a segment of ..."

Tom Hering

Luther on Tools

"As a (retired) lawyer I see potential liability from sharing things like power or sharp ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"I am not sure the items you mentioned, though disused, discontinued, discarded, could be considered ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to 2 Peter, by what will the present heavens and earth be destroyed?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Fire God's word Earthquake and hail Water

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »