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This Calling Not Only Incurs Suffering But Establishes A Life Solely In ...

This calling not only incurs suffering but establishes a life solely in devotion to God. Kierkegaard sees his suffering over the losses of his family, the dissolution of his relationship with Regine, and latter rejection by his contemporaries as evidence of the appropriate suffering that comes with a life of radical discipleship that both Paul and Christ incur. This is coupled by the less melancholic notion of being a prophet for his era in Golden Age Denmark. He speaks in John the Baptist terms about paving the way for the coming of the Lord in the shape of authentic faith in a stagnant entrenched church. He sees his work as being luminaryattempting to call people out of their blind submission and automaton routines into an engaged life with God.
Likely the most strange identification he has is with the Virgin Marya surprisingly powerful image for Kierkegaard. He seems to substitute his life of being able to father his own children to the life of a writer birthing ideas. Yet, this does not seem to be the main reason he identifies with Mary. He sees her as an exception, of which he is himself. It is sure that Kierkegaard sees his choice of vocation as not being a universal requirement of proper Christian piety, but rather as an exception. Likewise, Mary is an exception in that she is asked to sacrifice and give more than any other woman in the Biblical account. Likewise, Kierkegaard seems to think that he is asked to sacrifice more than the average Christian.
Perkins points out that Kierkegaard, although naturally a concrete thinker, is abstract in his portrayal of the Christian life. He does little to affirm the specific concrete details of the good Christian life, but gives much time to what principles that life is guided by. This is not only for the purposes of universal applicability, but also for the purposes of stressing the essentials of true faith. Whatis the highest good and the greatest blessedness?...Certainly it is truly to love, and next, to be loved. He is not a writer concerned with his readers doing, not doing, or failing to do a certain moral injunction. Rather, Kierkegaard is trying to portray a scriptural life that is guided by the big picture, and immersed in the narrative of the Bible. Kierkegaard always fought against an atomized view of Scripture and, subsequently, doctrine. These fail to encompass the brilliance and overall themes of the biblical account. If Scripture was to address the human condition on a broad scale it had to have overarching themes that responded to deficiencies in the human condition. Emmanuel points out, Kierkegaard holds that the true purpose of doctrine is to shape the subjectivity of the individual, thereby bringing the individual into conformity with the truth. For the truth, in the sense that Christianity is the truth, is a life.

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