Theological Fragments

[From Part II, Chapter X: “ The Work of Love in Praising Love ”] “[B]ut just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.” 1 Thessalonians 2:4 (ESV) “The world has never been so good, and so good it will never be, that the majority [want] the truth or have the true conception of it so that upon its proclamation it promptly and necessarily wins the approval of all. No, he who wills in truth to proclaim something true must prepare himself in some other way than with the aid of such a beguiling expectation; he must be willing essentially to relinquish the moment.” [1] Last week we posed the question, “how do we continue to learn about the nature of Christian love?” Kierkegaard provides two answers. Last week we examined his first answer: “the work of praising love must be done inwardly in self-renunciation [or self-denial].” This week we will take on his second claim: “the work of praising l

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[From Part II, Chapter X: “ The Work of Love in Praising Love ”] “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love…. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:8, 10 (ESV) Even as Works of Love draws to a close, there is still infinitely more that can be said about love. This one book is not enough to guide us completely in understanding the nature of Christian love. How, then, do we proceed when the book is over, the study is finished? How do we continue to pursue and understand love? Kierkegaard engages this question in a chapter on the importance of praising love—which we might (roughly) equate to “appreciating love.” Kierkegaard has two points to make about how we should appreciate love. We will cover the first one here, and the second on in the next post. Kierkegaard’s first claim is that “the work of praising love must be done inwardly in self-renunciation [or self-denial]