This new book provides an in-depth commentary on Kierkegaard’s
Concept of Anxiety, often considered Kierkegaard’s most difficult
work, and one that has few secondary resources published on it. It
provides a critical analysis of the meaning of eternity as it relates
to the human being in The Concept of Anxiety. First, the eternal
signifies the divine image implanted in human beings from the
beginning of creation, making us spiritual, embodied beings with the
capacity for self-consciousness, a God relationship, freedom,
everlasting life, and communal fellowship with other persons. Second,
the eternal is present both ontologically and normatively in human
beings, providing an unchanging criterion and telos of human
existence, a task we are responsible to fulfill. Third, eternity
signifies perfection; it is the ideal for which we were created. By
failing to fulfill this task, we can be said to “lose” the eternal
through sin and “gain” it again through redemption. As sinners who
are guilty of refusing to fulfill this task, eternity’s criterion
can only be fulfilled through faith in Christ’s atonement. This
decision in time paradoxically has eternal consequences, and in this
sense the eternal signifies transcendence beyond our spatiotemporal
world. However, the believer’s eternal decision in time not only
determines whether life after death entails eternal happiness instead
of eternal damnation; it also has redemptive consequences that begin
in temporality, bringing a spiritual continuity and sanctified vision
of oneself, others, and the temporal world here and now. The majority
of studies on The Concept of Anxiety have focused on the relationship
between the self and time; this book explores the relation between the
self and eternity.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781804419694
Publisert
2025
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Ethics Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter