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

by Lee C. Barrett III

Yet another work, On Christian Teaching, argues that the wisdom of Christianity is superior to that of the philosophers, though some helpful insights can be gleaned from those wise pagans. It argues that, although secular learning can be used in a preliminary way in the exegesis of biblical texts, it is faith that makes possible a more profound allegorical interpretation. The City of God suggests that the citizens of the general culture are not to be confused with the citizens of the heavenly city, though in this life the constituencies of the two groups are mixed together. These themes about the daunting nature of the Christian life, the uniqueness of Christian wisdom, and the differentiation of true Christianity from the mores of the general culture constitute a definite pattern. All of these motifs would become prominent in Kierkegaard’s own writings. Kierkegaard’s probably desultory reading in Augustine seems to have acquainted him with Augustine the moral rigorist and the champion of a demanding ideal for the Christian life. Interestingly, Augustine the speculative theologian is not evident in Kierkegaard’s list of readings in Augustine that can be documented.