Language:
English
Year of publication:
1994
Titel der Quelle:
Kierkegaardiana
Angaben zur Quelle:
17 (1994) 83-97
Keywords:
Kierkegaard, Søren, Religion
;
Antisemitism History 19th century
;
Christianity and other religions Judaism
Abstract:
When Kierkegaard discusses Jews in general, he usually connects them with a tendency toward abstraction and a belief in things numerical, especially money. Jews are also connected with modernity, and the despair of modern times. The immersion in abstract views seems to entail a fundamental unhappiness, and it is on this basis that Kierkegaard identifies himself with Jews. Regarding Judaism, Kierkegaard at first saw it as part of a tripartite schema: paganism, Judaism, and Christianity. But he later merged the category of Judaism entirely with paganism, as opposed to true Christianity. Judaism is identified with everything he finds despicable in the established Christian religiosity of Denmark. He was convinced that Danish society, both the state and the church, was afflicted with a kind of "Jewish" perdition - a bourgeois smugness, with an emphasis on sexuality and the family. Concludes that however offensive and objectionable his rhetoric is, it does not really have a great deal to do with Jews and Judaism, but is principally a part of Kierkegaard's battle against the lukewarm and flimsy Christendom of his times.
Note:
An abridged version of the article which appeared in "Kirkehistoriske Samlinger" (1992). In Hebrew:
,
עתון 77; ירחון לספרות ולתרבות 195 (תשנו) 24-27
URL:
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