200 years ago: The birth of Soren Kierkegaard

May 5, 2013 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. Mr. Kierkegaard has been called the father of existentialism, and his ideas tremendously influenced the 20th century strain of pseudo-Christian liberalism known as Neo-Orthodoxy. He believed that truth was subjective rather than objective, and that one comes to knowledge of God through mystical experience. As Francis Schaeffer argued, "Through a "leap of faith" one must try to find meaning without reason...optimism will now always be in the area of non-reason." (How Should We Then Live?, 1976, p. 163).

Mr. Kierkegaard, who died on November 13, 1855 at the age of 42, is one of the figures profiled in Dave Breese's book 7 Men Who Rule the World from the Grave (1980) and in Brannon Howse's book Grave Influence (2009).

I don't have the desire or energy to do a long-winded post on Mr. Kierkegaard, but I recommend the books mentioned above (as well as Francis Schaeffer's book Escape from Reason (1968)) for further information on Soren Kierkegaard and his effect on modern Western philosophy and theology.