The aim of this paper is to investigate what it means to call oneself a Christian according to Søren Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript, so as to shed new light on this important question. For there needs to be an agreement between the Christian's "what" and "how", between what he proclaims as his doctrine of faith and how this faith manifests in his life, if the designation of Christian is not to lose its fundamental value. This twofolded issue – (1) on what it means to call oneself a Christian, and (2) on how this designation comes to expression in one's life – will be explored with the help of theories by thinkers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein, William James, and Pierre Hadot. The result of the paper shows that the designation of Christian must first of all be understood in its ontological perspective, as "pure subjectivity", and furthermore that this designation is expressed through a "double reflection" by the single individual: first as "direct communication" and then, through his unique existence in the world, as "indirect communication". Lastly, the designation of Christian (or simply "having faith") implies being in an inward state of "immediacy after reflection". The single individual can gravitate either to "this world" or to that mystical "other world" of Christian theology, i.e. Paradise, and if he is caught in between these two worlds he is in the "reflective" state. The goal of the Christian life, however, must be to overcome this second state of reflection and to "take a leap of faith" into the unknown – into "irrationality" – into "immediacy after reflection". This, I argue, is the true τέλος of the Christian way of life.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-475835 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Forss, Alexander |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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