Soren Kierkegaard's Christian Psychology: Insight for Counseling & Pastoral Care

by C. Stephen Evans

Few writer-philosophers of the past have evoked as much curiosity in the twentieth century than Soren Kierkegaard. The further one probes into his thought the more his ideas prove to have relevance for the modern world and especially to Christians. Such is the case with psychology. For Kierkegaard, the study of psychology is intrinsically linked with the task of personal becoming, reflecting his own struggle to overcome the dark and cheerless environment of his early life. His interpretive framework os consciously Christian. In his view, humankind was made for relation with God, and this recognition is basic to self-understanding. But in self-deception and rebellion against God, human beings are constantly resisting their own true happiness and fighting against their own best interests. On this Kierkegaardian premise, C. Stephen Evans unfolds the implications and effects of this human desire for wholeness and growth of the self. This book is written "for psychologists, pastors, counselors, and ordinary people struggling to understand themselves and others."

Genres: Philosophy, Psychology, Theology, Religion, Christianity, Counselling

136 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1990

About the author

C. Stephen Evans (b. Atlanta , Georgia) is an American historian and philosopher, he is one of the United States' leading experts on Søren Kierkegaard having published six books on Kierkegaard over 25 years. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Baylor University. He holds a B.A. with High Honors (philosophy), from Wheaton College, an M.Phil. (philosophy) from Yale University, and a Ph.D. (philosophy) from Yale University.

He has won numerous awards, and reviews manuscripts for several university presses, including Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Princeton University Press, as well as Harper and Rowe. He does the same for several academic journals. He was curator of the Howard V. and Edna H. Hong Kierkegaard Library. He has organized several major conferences. He served five years on the the editorial board for Kierkegaard Monographs and for the International Kierkegaard Commentary Series. He is a past president of the Society of Christian Philosophers and the Søren Kierkegaard Society.

Reviews

[Micah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book. Evans, being a Kierkegaard scholar and not a psychologist, had no business whatsoever writing this book. Every time he writes about psychological issues, his ignorance is overwhelming as he spiritualizes every single one of them. At one point he calls depression a spiritual malaise implying that if a depressed individual would get right with G-d then their depression would disappear. This is absurd and insulting to anyone who has ever struggled with depression. If everything in this book about psychology were excised, this would make an adequate - albeit tiny - introduction to Kierkegaard's work. However, as is, this book is an abomination if you know even the slightest bit about psychology or Kierkegaard. Don't read this.

[Chet Duke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evans does a good job describing the manner in which Kierkegaard can be useful to psychologists and pastoral counselors, though that specific section of the book was far too brief. Evans is not a psychologist and he explicitly states that in several places, so the harsh reviews he receives as being ignorant of psychology are unwarranted. The maieutic ideal is an incredibly powerful method for facilitating self-knowledge in another person without violating their autonomy.
Also, Evans does a good job of distinguishing Kierkegaard's notion of the self from that of Sartre. SK does not believe the individual creates his own essence; rather, the self is formed in relation.

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very accessible for those interested in getting to know Kierkegaard better but feel intimidated by his original works. Evans does a good job of convincing the reader of Kierkegaard’s contribution to Christian faith and psychotherapy.

[Caleb Farley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich, deep, and profound, but the writing is a process to work through.

[Orrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The strong medicine made more palpable. A looking glass lake, easy to drink deeply from. Doing so emanates ripples clear out to the far shore like light rays that kiss the horizon, and echo back something tasting faintly of between concord grapes and chalk.

[Timothy Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find myself a little out of my depth, both philosophically and psychologically. I am widely read in neither discipline. However, let me see if I can give a prosee' of what Evans observes in Kierkegaard.

We travel through life in three stages or spheres: aesthetics, ethics, and religion. As we mature out of the aesthetic state and emerge into the ethical, we encounter difficulties, anxieties. We are limited and we are infinite. We are presented with possibilities and necessities. We will usually err on one side of these continua or the other.

To state it differently, when I am confronted with both the vast possibilities that lie before me and with the necessities of life, I will usually choose one or the other rather than live in the tension between. If I choose the possibilities, I become a dreamer. If I live in the necessities, I become a pedant. To emerge in a healthy way from my childhood state of aestheticism, I must live in the balance, accepting that ethically I must make decisions that account for both ends of the spectrum. I must take risks and I must commit to some levels of safety. Emerging into a healthy ethical state, I will usually discover some rules to help me make these choices. To do this, I will probably see the irony of living for the moment and for pleasure at the expense of good things to be gained by patience and seeing the bigger picture.

Then I must mature into a "religious" state. For Kierkegaard, the only healthy person is a consciously spiritual person, not "existentially" spiritual, but spiritual in the Christian sense. I will come to the point that I will realize legalistic ethics has its limitations too, but living above human ethics is only the preroggative of God. I can approach this paradox with a sense of humor since in Christ all can be forgiven. However, to fully embrace the religious life, I must be fully engaged in a relationship with God through Christ, living with a heightened immediacy that is based not in pleasure (as with the aesthete) but in the ultimate dynamic purpose God has for me.

This is heady stuff, and I am sure it has strong implications for a purposeful therapy like Frankl's that has a powerful base not in insight but in the future and the next steps a person needs to identify for their life.

I would love to put some of this material into practice. Unfortuneately, I think I am, like the author, not a therapist and to attempt to do so would be naive in the extreme. However, if, as he says, Kierkegaard's main purpose was evangelistic, then I may be able to develop a "midwife" approach to helping people along the next stage of their developement.

[Tylor Lovins · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'll never read Evans again--especially anything about Kierkegaard. Reading Evans after I read Kierkegaard nullifies my experience of reading Kierkegaard. If I took everything I knew about American Evangelical doctrines and read Kierkegaard and wrote an exposition about Kierkegaard in conjunction with these American Evangelical doctrines, then I'd have Evans's poorly written, inexcusably dishonest book.

This is without a doubt the most shamelessly unsympathetic philosopher I have ever read. Since Christianity is about redemption, I'll give this book some value by using it as toilet paper. In this way I will honor Evans--I will recognize, at least, his humanity.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book, really helped to get a better understanding of Kierkegaard's complex teaching. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in Kierkegaard. Of all Kierkegaard's books, Evans mostly interacts with "The Sickness Unto Death."