Theological Fragments

[From Part II, Chapter VI: “ Love Abides ”] “…Love abide[s]…” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13 (ESV) A relationship of love—whether it be romance, family, or friendship—requires two parties. Both sides must be invested in order for there to be a relationship. We have been commanded to love and, “so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18 ESV). But what about when it doesn’t depend on me? What about when our neighbor chooses to end the friendship? If a relationship of love requires two people, and it is impossible to force another person back into the relationship, then how are we to live out our command to love? Do we walk away from them? Do we cling desperately to them? Do we chase them down, pleading with them to remain with us? The common reaction might be to walk away—mourning the loss, but resigned to it. After all, what else can we do? Love has been broken. There’s nothing else we can do, right? Well, according to Kierkegaard, there is one thing that we can...

[From Part II Chapter IV, " Love Sees Not Its Own "] “Love… does not seek its own.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NASB) “Justice is recognizable in that it gives to each his own, just as each requires its own in return. This means that justice is concerned with what is one’s own: it partitions and divides; it determines what each one has the right to call his own; it judges and punishes if anyone does not make the distinction between mine and yours. With this contentious and yet legally-entitled mine , the individual has the right to do as he pleases, and when he seeks his own on no other basis than that which justice grants, justice has nothing to reproach him for and no right to upbraid him for anything.” [1] Political theory divides justice into two types: retributive , which is how we respond to crime, and distributive , which is how distribute wealth and power in society. Here Kierkegaard is concerned with distributive justice—an issue that is admittedly far more load...

[From Part II Chapter III: " Love Hopes All Things and Yet is Never Put to Shame"] “Love… hopes all things.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:7 Hope, like love itself, is difficult to command with our conscious mind. It is hard to decide to be hopeful, just as it is hard to decide to love someone—hard, but by no means impossible. But we do often choose to give up hope, even if we are not aware of the choice. There are two reasons that we give up hope for the people we love. The first reason is despair: that is, we lose faith in love. The experiences of our life convinces us that hope is mistaken, that the world we live in does not reward hope. This experience leads us to focus on the negative possibilities of what can happen in our relationships. As Kierkegaard writes,  “’It is possible,’ says despair, ‘it is possible that even the most sincere enthusiast nevertheless becomes weary, gives up the struggle, and sinks into the service of the second-rate; it is possible that even the...

[From Part II Chapter II, " Love Believes All Things and Yet is Never Deceived "] “Love… believes all things.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:7 “ Love believes everything—and yet is never to be deceived. Amazing! To believe nothing in order to never be deceived—this seems to make sense. For how would a man ever be able to deceive someone who believes nothing! But to believe everything and thereby, as it were to throw oneself away, fair game for all deception and all deceivers, and yet precisely in this way to assure oneself infinitely against every deception: this is remarkable.” [1] When it comes to trusting people, we modern Americans tend to be very careful. We consider it an essential skill, knowing who and when to trust. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” That proverb teaches us that if I allow myself to be deceived because I trusted when I should have known better, it’s really my fault, not the deceiver’s. And we desperately don’t want to be deceived ...

[From Part II Chapter I, " Love Builds Up" ] "…[L]ove builds up." ~1 Corinthians 8:1b ESV In this, the first chapter of Part 2, Kierkegaard talks about the ability of Works of Love to build up other people. That is, when we show love to others those actions can inspire them, spiritually edify them, help them to grow. This is the trait of love we are talking about: love builds up. In the course of the discussion, Kierkegaard begins a bit of a philosophical digression when he asks, “ what does love build up, and what does it build on?” He concludes,  “In very fact it is love; love is the origin of everything, and spiritually understood love is the deepest ground of the life of the spirit. Spiritually understood, the foundation is laid in every person in whom there is love. And the edifice which, spiritually understood, is to be constructed, is again love; and it is love which edifies. Love builds up, and it is this which love builds up.” [1] Love is everythin...