Customer Reviews

Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard

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Where to begin studying Kierkegaard? Start with "Works of Love"! But for a generalist overview of his work, to gain a sense of the scope of Kierkegaard's vastly prodigious work as an author, to be introduced in a more thematic way to the thoughts of this thinker, start with "Provocations" (which I prefer to the Brentall anthology because it tends to weave a sense of the main burdens of SK into the fabric of the selections).

I am also happy to say that this work reads more easily than some of the earlier renditions of SK, especially for U.S. readers of the new century.

This is a book that will wrestle with your soul at the deepest level, yet it is written in language that will deal with your mind in the most simple terms, without demanding you to take a leap of arcane philosophical knowledge. Here is Kierkegaard for all of us: the philosopher who holds a mirror to one's innermost being and at the same time aims a Hubble telescope right at God. One way or another, this book is bound to change your life.

...and then you will know the reality of grace." p 254

Kierkegaard is too good to miss. Unfortunately his writings were so copious and obscured under the cloak of pseudonyms that many people give up before they begin to mine the riches of his work. Moore has finally provided an accessible distillation of his work in this topical compilation. There are 98 topics (e.g. doubt, love, faith/reason, despair, risk, passion...) which either contain single, important passages or a series of quotes from various works. I often found myself laughing out loud.

Unlike many Kierkegaard scholars who insist on anachronistically viewing him through his twentieth century French interpreters, Moore has a sense for passions, wit and contributions of the Danish philosopher. A caution: SK out of context can often be misinterpreted since he usually speaks in a voice not his own, intended to incite passionate response. However, I would still highly recommend it to anyone who has either a deep interest or a passing curiosity in Kierkegaard or a passionate, authentic life of action in general.

(Note: the text of this is also available in a free, searchable pdf on-line).

I have nothing to add regarding the "dumbing down" of SK. Sure, it's better to read him in full, but a reader would have to be very dumb indeed to think that this highly edited collection is pure Kierkegaard. It is an excellent introduction to his religious works -- if you accept introductions like this in the first place.

My main complaint and correction is to the reviewer who claims that this book is unsourced. Every single selection is sourced with the page number(s), edition, and translator(s) of the original work whence the selection is pulled. The sources are well-indexed, easily found in the back of the book. In addition, the Hong & Hong translations the reviewer calls authoritative (and which, he claims, are not used in this book) are in wide use throughout Provocations! If this book was truly unsourced, it would be a huge problem; only, that's not the case.

Soren Kirkegaard can be difficult to understand. This book presents Kirkegaard's writings in their essense in a way that is easy to read and comprehend. This book can be used as a devotional due to the format.

I might have rated this collection of writings higher, but didn't because there are points on which I disagree with Kierkegaard. However, where he is right, he is intensely right:
"There is a tremendous danger in which we find ourselves by being human, a danger that consists in the fact that we are placed between two tremendous powers. The choice is left to us. We must either love or hate, and not to love is to hate. So hostile are these two powers that the slightest inclination towards the one side becomes absolute opposition to the other. Let us not forget this tremendous danger in which we exist. To forget is to have made your choice." To Kierkegaard, self confident rationalism was an inadequate window on truth -- was in fact an egotistical self-deception. His seemingly counter-intuitive insistence that objective thought is inherently incomplete and uncertain has been supported in our post-modern age by principles of quantum theory. But he was less interested in being "right" than he was in existing, which for Kierkegaard meant being ready for decisive action. For him, 'actions speak louder than words,' and decision embodies greater truth than does detached rationalism. He exposes the sacred cows of "Christendom" as rotting corpses. He provokes. The thinking Christian need not agree with Kierkegaard on all fronts, so to speak, but he should not avoid these provocations. As counter-point to common, sugar coated, and silly versions of religion, they must be considered. While Kierkegaard, like Kant, can be difficult, many of these selections are powerful and certainly worthy of the effort. It is when Kierkegaard writes of love and of forgiveness that he is most profound:
"... if your life expresses the little you have understood, you speak more powerfully than all the eloquence of orators."

Kierkegaard has to be one of the most consistently insightful authors I have ever read. To that end, Provocations is an indispensable collection of his religious writings. His comments are so profound, so searching, so sharp and biting, that it is impossible to read this book as a Christian and not feel at once challenged to admit your own hypocrisy. As you read his critique of Christendom, I guarantee you will find yourself saying, 'Yes, that is me. I am like that.' But its not all negative. He points to the vanity and hypocrisy of Christendom with a view to show what true Christianity is all about. I haven't yet come across anything in Kierkegaard where I've said that he is wrong.

This is perhaps the most thought-provoking book in my library. A must have.

I am only about 1/5 of the way through the book so far but have found it quite insightful and very enjoyable. It seems to be a very good introduction into the works of Kierkegaard, which is what I was looking for.

Of course I'd heard of Kierkegaard. I'd heard some people condemn him as a heretic, others herald him a saint, and still others blame him for the current of hopelessness flowing through today's society. So, when I picked up this volume I didn't know what to expect.

What I experienced was almost like a spiritual awakening. Kierkegaard's uses the scalpel of insight to pick away at the crust of dead orthodoxy. Now dog-eared and covered with highlighted passages and notes, this book has become one of my favorites of all time. Even if you have no interest in philosophy, check it out--you won't be overwhelmed. But you might be provoked.

First off, I do not deny that this book can be used as food for thought. The diluted Kierkegaard ("K")can be used to stimulate and perhaps enrich your Christian experience. I have read many of the selections and found some them to be quite excellent.
****BUT**** this author, who seemingly has no shame, no discernment, no respect for K, should make clear in its introduction that this kind of diluted, dumbed down, and just plain twisted version of K. is exactly what he would have despised. This is pablum Christianity. This is the yellow brick road and the path of ease. THIS BOOK STABS KIERKEGAARD IN THE BACK It is like Cliff Notes or Sparks guides--actually it is far worse. Readers may read this book and think they have encountered K., but they haven't and this book subverts K's actual intentions and his writings.

There should be a subtitle, "The book Kierkegaard would have hated." Taking bits and pieces of his writing and rewriting them to make them accessible is heresy and complete betrayal of K. The worst section, the last is recommended by the author as something to be read first. NO, the last section is the worst of the worst.

Also, C. Stephen Evans can not be more wrong when he states in a blurb for this book that people "will surely be led by these selections to read the whole works from which they were taken." If someone reads this book and then turns to K's actual writing, he will almost certainly be repelled by its difficulty and its difference from the tepid prose of Provocations. Reading this book is a virtual guaranty that the reader will never be able to read K.'s works. I don't know how Professor Evans has taught K. in the past to his students, but, quite frankly, I wonder if he used this kind of book in his class. I really doubt it.

I believe this has to be one of the worst books ever written. Kierkegaard didn't want or expect a large audience. Remember the "narrow way" of the Bible. I do not condemn all books on K.--many books, by scholars and intelligent explicaters, can help a reader understand Kierkegaard's writings. Prof Evans has written a few of these books. But this book is anathema to K. and his actual writing. It is simply wrong.