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

by Lee C. Barrett III

the young scholar in 1834 through Schleiermacher’s Christian Faith. Kierkegaard’s journals from that period express puzzlement about Schleiermacher’s apparent affirmation of predestination. This concern about this doctrine would have directed Kierkegaard’s attention to Schleiermacher’s frequent references to Augustine concerning original sin, grace, and election, for Martensen regarded Schleiermacher as the heir of Augustine on these subjects. Reinforcing the impact of Martensen’s construal of Augustine, Kierkegaard attended at least some of Martensen’s lectures on speculative dogmatics in 1837-38, and he acquired a copy of subscription notes (notes on the lectures taken by professional transcribers, who then sold them to students) that treated Augustine and Pelagius at length.21