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Works of Love

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_Works of Love_ by Kierkegaard is the most uplifting, encouraging, and hope-restoring book I have ever read. Kierkegaard's statement that "the greatest act of love anyone can ever achieve is to mourn for someone who is dead" is a statement I have used to guide myself through innumerable existential crises and has given me hope in my darkest hours. The wisdom contained in this book is an essential tool in dealing with the premature and untimely death of a loved one, and restoring your hope and faith in God even in the face of tragedy. Kierkegaard's sense of empathy and morality is unsurpassed by any other philosopher living or dead, and I will also go so far as to call him a saint.

This book is also extremely well-written, well-translated, and readable. _Works of Love_ is living proof of the theory that inherently complicated and profound subject matter does not necessarily have to be extremely difficult to read. Kierkegaard's use of anecdotal situations and clear real-life examples to illustrate his theories make the book more readily understandable, and his writing style naturally lends itself to clear and accurate translation. Unlike many German philosophers of the same time period, Kierkegaard (from Denmark) does not lapse into highly personal, abstract, and inaccessable concepts, but instead focuses on more realistic and timeless problems that have plagued humanity since the dawn of sentience. While authors like Hegel and Schopenhauer are intellectually stimulating and mildly interesting, reading their works does not exactly make you happier, more hopeful, and more empathetically caring. You are often left with nothing but pie-in-the-sky theories regarding esoteric philosophical questions that are only marginally relevant to the everyday realities we experience. Kierkegaard, on the other hand, can greatly improve the quality of your life, and help you achieve a positive and non-hateful outlook.

Also keep in mind that this is easily Kierkegaard's most personal book, revealing the inner nature of his own spiritual beliefs. Unlike an author like Heidegger, who will ramble for 400 pages and never even bother to tell you if he believes in God or not, Kierkegaard is up front and honest with the reader, speaking directly to us. A true expert on Kierkegaard knows that he often wrote under pseudonyms, and playfully stepped into another character or alter-ego, lending an almost ficticious aspect to some of his philosophical works. In reading some of these pseudonymous books, a careful reader will observe that Kierkegaard often contradicts his real persona in subtle ways. It is easy to overlook his purposeful self-contradictions and alter-ego characterizations unless you compare these works with his more personal and truthful works, _Works of Love_ being the prime example.

Should you buy this book? YES!! I unconditionally recommend this book to anyone, anywhere. It is the perfect introduction to Kierkegaard; the one you should read first. It is also a recapitulation and summary of all of his most important concepts, so it could also be read last. But at some point you must read this book. The only type of person who would not appreciate this book is someone who has thoroughly convinced himself of the hopelessness, meaninglessness, and absurdity of existence; someone who has become completely disillusioned with God in response to tragedy, and believes knowledge can only beget sorrow. Most people with this kind of negative outlook are often anti-intellectuals anyway, and seldom read legitimate philosophical books anymore. But even if you are disillusioned with God and unable to comprehend tragedy, you still might want to read this book because it may provide the only way out of your depressing predicament. _Works of Love_ is a shining beacon of hope in an often violent, tragic, and chaotic universe, and is one of the few books ever written that is sophisticated and credible enough to pull even the most die-hard sceptic out of the despair of hopelessness.

Whatever you may think about Soren's views, this book is the pinnacle of his work. The first part of the book clarifies the meaning of true Godly love, to love your neighbor. Each page is riveting and triggers new understanding about truly loving another not romantically or out of worldiness, but out of Godliness.

A must read for Christians and for others interested in understanding Kierkegaardian philosphy.

If I have to compare this book to any other, I would compare it to Plato's Phaedrus. In Phaedrus, Socrates talks to Phaedrus of how to speak of love authentically, i.e. to speak of love in such a way that the speaking itself is an act of love. The problem is that we are never brought into connection with Socrates' speech. It is always about Phaedrus and we are eavesdroppers and therefore similtaneously included and excluded from what is said. As Plato put it, the written word is a pharmakon (drug, medicine, poison), it cannot speak authentically of love. This is the philosophical point of Works of Love. In it, Kierkegaard attempts to speak authentically of love. This is why the book is published on his own name and there are no pseudonyms. He is writing directly to the reader who is his beloved. He, however, must redefine the terms of the discourse. Since Eros is a love of beauty and he cannot see the reader's beauty, he speaks instead of Agape (in danish Kjerlighed, i.e. Christian love), or love of neighbor. In this way whoever reads the book becomes his beloved, to whom the discourse is aimed. In this way he attempts to get past Plato's empasse. I think he suceeds.

Soren Kierkegaard at his best! Works of Love is perhaps his consummate work regarding the centrality of an "ethics of love," and provides the best introduction to the thought and passion of this writer.

The book is organized around the theme of becoming a true lover. SK normally cites a particular Biblical passage regarding love (i.e., "Love hides a multitude of sins") and then profoundly explores the implications of the passage for the reader's life. Often the contrast with "erotic" and "platonic" love (i.e. the poetic) is made to demonstrate how radical the call of Christian love really is.

Hauntingly powerful and soul-stopping: if you decide to read only one book by Kierkegaard, this is the one I'd recommend.

The Hong's translation is excellent, and scholarly end notes are provided.

An asute description of the *works* (or the "how")of love, as opposed to a merely intellectual cogitation of the "what" of love. If you are into intellectualizing, this book will be useless to you. If, on the other hand, you seek to *be* in love, to exist in the truth of passionate inwardness, this book is an invaluable resource.

Warning: Not for the insincere, the intellectual prig, the conceited idolater of this age and its cynicism and psuedo-intellectualism pawned off as "postmodernism."

This is more of a reaction to Kierkegaard's "Works of Love" than a review of the book. I cannot perfect perfection.

First, he hits the genius of Christianity, and take's Paul's chapter on Charity, 1 Corinthians 13 as the backbone text. This is an impressive "love poem" which really explains why Christianity is so novel. If you don't believe me, read pre-Christian literature, such as Socrates, Homer, or The Epic of Gilgamesh. Pre-Christian society ignored human dignity and worth, and people were just functions of the state, or the whim of the king.

Secondly, Kierkegaard recognizes that love is a work, and not merely a state of heart or a chattering point. This notion of work is anathema to "Pop Protestantism," which was Kierkegaard's mortal enemy. He commented that the obsession with "grace" had turned Christianity upside-down, and had caused men to try and cheat God out of his religion. This is another way of saying that faith without works is dead.

Kierkegaard last insight is that God is the basis of love, which he underscores in the opening invocation. Too many people gloss by this prefacing prayer, but that is what separates love and love with power. God gives us power to love.

I found this translation quite readable. Soren, in any version, is rather thick, almost as if he is intentionally trying to hide things. Part of difficulty comes from the dense 19th Century verbosity that was a token of the age. However, his greatest asset is humorous illustrations, which helps mentally fix the points forever.

The only criticism I have is that Kierkegaard does not connect love to the Atonement. He does, in the introductory benediction, assert that we need to have love securely wedded to God, but he does not connect love to the Atonement and the Resurrection, the central doctrines of Christianity.

This is Soren at his best, so I recommend that you begin your Danish journey here, then move on to "Either/Or," "Fear And Trembling," and "Sickness Unto Death." But the key to Kierkegaard's existentialism is love.

Here it is. How to apply the love of God, as taught to us by Jesus, in the reality of daily life. No fancy formulas here, no clever platitudes, just the truth. A tremendous reconcilitation of the supposed contradiction between works and faith as the basis of salvation, Kierkegaard shows that in fact the letter to the Galatians explains that the essence of Christianity's message is faith, working through love. Hence, "Works of Love". This is Kierkegaards' magnum opus. Not for the faint of heart nor anyone looking for an easy answer, yet amazingly simple and honest. Completely vindicates Soren Kierkegaard from the charge by narrow traditionalists ( most of whom have never read anything he wrote ) that he was not a genuine Christian, perhaps not even a Christian at all. If you wish to follow Christ, follow Kierkegaard. He is a trustworthy guide.

This book is literally impossible. I mean those words in every possible semantic combination. This man's heart has been to places I can only dream of. Every other line I just have to pause to shake my head and wonder how he is even able to see the the things he writes. And then he proceeds to capture these ideas in words. Everything is logically consistent and even harder to do, spiritually consistent. Kierkegaard really clarified for me the battle and the difference between holy, eternal logic versus earthly, temporal logic. I especially like the last 2 chapters: his definitions of transparency and eternal repetition. I get chills thinking about it. Props to the translator. She has done an excellent job and the notes included in the back were not just anecdotes but served to elucidate some of the more difficult ideas.

Overall, I just felt so blessed by this book. I've read my fair share of books and by chapter 2, Works of Love became the best book I had ever read. For anyone reading Kierkegaard, consider also Purity of Heart is to Will one Thing, The Sickness unto Death and the amazing classic Fear and Trembling.

Soren Kierkegaard at his best! Works of Love is perhaps his consummate work regarding the centrality of an "ethics of love," and provides the best introduction to the thought and passion of this writer.

The book is organized around the theme of becoming a true lover. SK normally cites a particular Biblical passage regarding love (e.g., "Love hides a multitude of sins") and then profoundly explores the implications of the passage for the reader's life. Often the contrast with "erotic" and "platonic" love (i.e. the poetic) is made to demonstrate how radical the call of Christian love really is.

Hauntingly powerful and soul-stopping: if you decide to read only one book by Kierkegaard, this is the one I'd recommend.

The Hong's translation is excellent, and scholarly end notes are provided.

I became drawn to Kierkegaard as a college junior, beginning with "Fear and Trembling," then proceeding to the other major works, continuing through "Sickness Unto Death" and "Concluding Unscientific Discourse" in one of the few college courses in which I did any real work. The passion served me well for life, equipping me to read the Greek philosophers as well as Nietzsche and most of the major structuralist and post-structuralist thinkers of the last century. Perhaps more importantly, it gave me the conceptual framework, or "aesthetic sensibilities," to make sense of challenging modern literature--from Flannery O'Connor's epiphanic short stories to a recent film like "This Is No Country for Old Men" (which could just as easily have been based on an O'Connor short story).

The meaning of the title of the latter work, a Coen Brothers' movie, could be paraphrased roughly as: "this mortal existence is no unproblematic, easy life as you get older, finding it increasingly difficult to evade the fact of your own mortality and aloneness along with the ever diminishing amount of time you will have to make sense of your existence in this finite world." The major characters in the film all intuit this disturbing reality at some level, but only the retiring sheriff, Tommy Lee Jones, can began to grasp the truth by the end of the story. The other characters proudly assume they can beat death (youthful pride) or that if they simply do and think nothing, "something" will happen--maybe they'll get lucky and score a jackpot, or have one last turn with an attractive body in bed, or who knows, maybe they'll be one of the chosen ones who receive a pass when God makes an appearance in their lives before mortality runs its inevitable course. (Or, as so many are wont to say nowadays, "Whatever.")

Kierkegaard, like O'Connor and the Coens, is requiring that his readers "wake up" (the last words of the movie, recited by Tommy Lee Jones). Suppose instead of among the last words on the cross, Jesus had not said "Father, forgive those who sin against me because they know not what they do." Instead, what if Jesus had said "Father, forgive those who know not what they think." That's what Kierkegaard is confronting us with in this text. The meaning of life--and/or love--and the meaningless of either when not supported by thought and genuine self-knowledge.

There has been no shortage of Christ-like martyrs past and present--righteous types who jump at the chance of being some sort of Divine saint by bearing a cross that they can chalk up as one more star in their crown. But the Creator endowed human beings with the capacity--distinct from all mortal creatures--for contemplating their own mortality. And along with that capability, for thinking, growing, learning, and "knowing." Yet so many seem determined to waste that gift, preferring to go through life thoughtlessly, purposelessly, guided by nothing more than social conventions, superstition and traditions, habit and instinct. Some become doctors and lawyers, technicians and even scientists, partnered couples and married spouses. But assuming a role or being a magnet of "information" is far from actual "knowing." And the knowledge gap could not be more conspicuous than when it comes to the one question that concerns all human beings: faith, or the question of belief.

All Kierkegaard, along with his many influences and successors, is saying is that Socrates was right--not necessarily in his conclusions but certainly in his method: "The unexamined life is unfit to be lived." But Socrates imagined that reason of itself is sufficient to arrive at "truth." Kierkegaard rejects that premise. The best we can do is to continue to inquire, to remain "focused" on the "ultimate" questions that concern all of us as mortal beings, to admit our limitations, and to become aware of the boundaries that separate us from each other (e.g., none of us can "share" the death of our dearest beloved one), between what can and can't be known--and only then to express our humanity through the "act" that aligns our inner life with the purposes of the inscrutable Almighty plan.

It is not a question to be postponed or evaded, or to be replaced by religious dogma and sanctimonious words and actions. We have the capacity to ask it and to examine it every day of our lives. How counterproductive are our religions if they divide us more than they join us, and if they prohibit rather than encourage open inquiry and conversation. Best of all, Kierkegaard's thought, like the plots of storytellers from Sophocles to O'Connor to the Coen Brothers, comes directly out of human experience. In no way is it "abstract," "hypothetical," mere "ratiocination." Far from it, he's concrete, passionate, a spiritual fleshly soul resisting and frequently breaking the chains that bind him.

After reading Kierkegaard, it's difficult to believe that Jesus would have ever extended his redemptive plea on the cross to those who refuse the pursuit of knowledge. It's also easy to regret that this "hanging god" placed so much emphasis on forgiving misguided human actions. "Forgiving" itself is an action, and when it results in a form of "religious pride" (the essence of the "oxymoronic"), it's an action requiring forgiveness before all others. Ultimately, we become saved by action, but not by action that leads to presumption about our individual importance or privileged access to the Almighty. What's more important is to trace the lineage that links us all as "children" of the One Heavenly Father. Doing so the only valid way will necessitate the abrogation of all pride, or like the grandmother who reaches her hand out, proclaiming "Why, you're one of my children..." to the serial killer in O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," we'll just as certainly have our heads handed back to us (I'll leave it to readers to discover exactly how that occurs in the climax of O'Connor's powerful, unforgettable dark comedy about love and faith).