Analysis of Kierkegaard’s Philosophical Fragments

Kierkegaard was one of the most prominent Christian philosophers and is hailed as the forerunner of modern existential philosophy. Here I am analyzing his magnum opus: Philosophical Fragments.

His work is that of a literature within a literature and his tapestry of words is the 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 asked the question: is truth knowable? Socrates’ method was asked to ask questions and indulge in dialogical rhetoric. Kierkegaard points out the truth, which in a Christian sense was knowable and lies in the incarnate Messiah who came to earth as Christ and rose to save the entire world from his sins. Socrates’ mode of truth operation was a dialogic one that ultimately created an uncertainty of truth.

The teacher of truth is God himself, the Rabbi, the Messiah, the Christ who has laid the foundations of truth in the human conscience of the individual.

The individual is given the choice to accept the truth as part of free will, since God did not create a robot that 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 reasons. The relationship of God and man is that of a tutor and a learner.

Knowing oneself is a paradox in Greek philosophy. The art of knowing in Christianity is an empathic relationship with God the tutor and man the learner.

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 bequeathed as conscience in the spirit of man. As it is said in Hebrews: ‘faith is the substance of things hoped for and the substance of things 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 turn away from him. Yes, God doesn’t like lukewarm water heaters; he confessed to spitting on them.

Furthermore, he argues 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 foundation for modern existential philosophy.

God tended to reveal himself to humanity as love and that is why he sent his son to earth to claim redemption for all.

The teacher, the rabbi, has bestowed upon the student a peace and joy that pass understanding.

Divine Love-Agape is eternal and is the soul of God that He freely gave to humans to participate. Divine love surpasses the symbolism of the occult and other religions.

The character of truth in Greek philosophy has always been that of doubt, but in Christianity it is a being with Christ, God and King. And Christ, as he rightly said: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, and whoever 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 God’s love and self-love. God’s love is immaculate, transcendental and forgiving while 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 transhistorical.