Eros and Self-Emptying: The Intersections of Augustine and Kierkegaard (Kierkegaard as a Christian Thinker)

by Lee C. Barrett III

been a slogan that Kierkegaard heard, unaware of its exact source. However, the fact that Kierkegaard uses it in order to contrast paganism’s view of friendship and erotic love with a Christian understanding of love does parallel Augustine’s argument in this passage and may indicate familiarity with that passage. In “The Gospel of Sufferings” (also published in 1847), Kierkegaard again refers to the “glittering vice” that the pagans mistook for virtue (UDVS, 272). In a draft written in 1846-47 for the projected Book on Adler, Kierkegaard cites Augustine’s conviction that individuals are forbidden to tell an untruth in order to preserve their chastity (BA, supplement, 293).