Analysis of Kierkegaard’s Philosophical Fragments
Kierkegaard was one of the leading Christian philosophers and is hailed as the forerunner of modern existential philosophy. Here I am analyzing his magnum opus: Philosophical Fragments.
His work is one of a literature within a literature and his tapestry of words is a poetic form of prose. In this work he builds a poetic dialogue between Christian thought and early Greek philosophy. He dwells in the subjective realms of Spirit. His writing is an aphoristic style called Diapsalmata in Greek.
Greek philosophers like Socrates have posed the question: “Can the truth be known?” Socrates’ method was asked to ask questions and indulge in dialogical rhetoric. Kierkegaard points out the truth, that, in a Christian sense, it was knowable and is found in the incarnate Messiah who came to earth as Christ and rose to save the entire world from its sins. Socrates’ mode of truth operandi was dialogical that ultimately created an uncertainty of the truth.
The teacher of truth is God Himself, the Rabbi, the Messiah, the Christ who has laid the foundation of truth in the human conscience of the individual.
The individual has the option of accepting the truth as part of free will, since God did not create a robot that he could manipulate. The knower of the truth starts from a state of disbelief to a state of knowledge.
The love of God or in Greek known as AGAPE is a love without any reason. The relationship of God and man is that of a tutor and a learner.
Knowing yourself is a paradox in Greek philosophy. The art of knowing in Christianity is an empathic relationship with God the tutor and the apprentice man.
From the Christian point of view: faith is a compassionate surrender to the will of God. A genuine wisdom is to decipher what God has handed down as a conscience in the spirit of man. As it is said in Hebrews: “faith is the certainty of what is hoped for and the proof of what is not seen.”
The archeology of Christian thought is that Adam and Eve created primal sin and then God became incarnate as the Son to redeem all mankind from sin.
Freedom is a paradox: God has given free will to choose God or to separate from him. Yes, God does not like sharks; He confessed to spitting them out.
Furthermore, he objects that the truth is hidden in the Eternal, the omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God. There should be a fusion of self-consciousness with the presence of God-consciousness.
The teacher who gives the truth is the Savior, the Messiah who became incarnate as Christ. When the truth is forgotten, the individual falls back into solipsism.
The transition of truth refers to a process from a state of not being to a state of being. Here Kierkegaard lays the foundations of modern existential philosophy.
God tended to reveal himself to humanity as love and that is why he feels his son on earth to claim redemption for all.
The teacher, the rabbi, has given the student a peace and a joy that passes all understanding.
Divine Agape-Love is eternal and is the soul of God that he freely gave to humans to participate in. Divine love surpasses the symbolism of the occult and other religions.
The character of truth in Greek philosophy was always in doubt, but in Christianity it is one being with Christ, God, and King. And Christ, as he correctly said: “I am the way, the truth and the life, and everyone who believes in me will have eternal life.”
The meaning of a Christian God is a concept of reason and also a passion of emotion.
The author differentiates between love of God and love of oneself. God’s love is immaculate, transcendental, and forgiving where self-love is based on desires and passion. Can we balance self-love and God’s love and achieve balance?
The coming incarnation as the Messiah, Christ was historical and the resurrection is transhistoric.
