Soren Kierkegaard

Born on May 5, 1813 and died on November 11, 1855 Kierkegaard was a philosopher, poet, social critic, theologian and author born in Denmark. He criticized organized religion, Christendom, morality, psychology and religion in general. He loved to write using parables and irony. His philosophical works dealt with living as a single individual and emphasizing the importance of personal choice. He highly criticized Hans Christian Andersen, Goethe, Hegel, and Schelling.

His writings on religion focused on Christianity and the institution of the Church. He felt there were difference between object proof of Christianity and the qualitative distinction between man, God and man's relationship as an individual to Jesus Christ. He dwelt on the individual when faced with life choices.

Kierkegaard believed that God comes to every person mysteriously. He published Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions and Stages on Life's Way in 1845. In 1943-44 he published his Discourses. He wrote about the inner being in all of his books and he set out to turn the individual away from organized religions. His view was that the Church was established not to prove Christianity but to help each individual make a leap of faith.

Kierkegaard continued to attack the Church of Denmark using newspaper articles published in The Fatherland and in pamphlets called The Moment. Before the tenth issue of The Moment could be published, Kierkegaard collapsed on a Danish street. He was hospitalized for over a month and refused any type of communion. He felt pastors were political officials and not representatives of the divine.

Kierkegaard is consider the father of existentialism or the belief that emphasizes the person as an individual with free will. It is the individual that determines their own existence and development, religion, and thought patterns.

Kierkegaard died in Frederik's Hospital. It is possible that a fall from a tree when he was young contributed to his death. He never married but was engaged to Regine Olsen. He had second thoughts about marriage which he felt disrupted man's individuality.