Fortunate Fallibility: Kierkegaard and the Power of Sin (AAR Reflection and Theory in the Study of Religion)

For more than 1,500 years, the claim that Adam's Fall might be considered 'fortunate' has been Christianity's most controversial and difficult idea. While keepers of the Easter vigil in the fifth century (and later John Milton) praised sin only as a backhanded witness to the ineffability of redemption, modern speculative theodicy came to understand all evil as comprehensible, historically productive, and therefore fortunate, while the romantic poets credited transgression with bolstering individual creativity and spirit. Jason Mahn's compelling study examines Kierkegaard's ''para/orthodixical'' language of human fallibility and Christian sin. Mahn breaks down and reconstructs the concept of the fortunate Fall in Western thought, in context of Kierkegaard's later writings, examining Kierkegaard's blunt critique of Idealism's justification of evil, as well as his playful deconstruction of romantic celebrations of sin. Mahn also argues, though, that Kierkegaard resists the moralization of evil, preferring to consider temptation and sin as determinative dimensions of religious existence. In relation to the assumed ''innocence'' of Christendom's cultured Christians, the self-conscious sinner might be the better religious witness. Although Mahn shows how Kierkegaard finally replaces actual sin with human fragility, temptation, and the possibility of spiritual offense as that which ''happily'' shapes religious faith, he cogently argues that Kierkegaard's understanding of ''fortunate fallibility'' is at least as rhetorically compelling and theologically operative as talk of a fortunate Fall. Mahn's insights into Kierkegaard's playful maneuvers encourage Christian theologians to speak of sin more particularly and peculiarly than in the typical discourses of church and culture. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Abbreviations......Page 14 Introduction: Fault and Fallibility......Page 18 1. Figuring a Fortunate Fall......Page 42 2. Felix Fragilitas in The Concept of Anxiety......Page 70 3. Felix Fallibilitas in The Sickness unto Death......Page 104 4. Felix Offensatio in Practice in Christianity......Page 150 5. Felicitas: Between Cross and Resurrection......Page 190 Postscript: Christian Para/Orthodoxy: Toward a Postmodern Hamartiology......Page 222 Notes......Page 230 Bibliography......Page 258 B......Page 276 F......Page 277 I......Page 278 M......Page 279 R......Page 280 S......Page 281 Y......Page 282 For More Than 1500 Years, The Claim That Adam's Fall Might Be Considered Fortunate Has Been Christianity's Most Controversial And Difficult Idea. Jason Mahn's Study Examines Kierkegaard's Para/orthodixical Language Of Human Fallibility And Christian Sin. Figuring A Fortunate Fall -- Felix Fragilitas In The Concept Of Anxiety -- Felix Fallibilitas In The Sickness Unto Death -- Felix Offensatio In Practice In Christianity -- Felicitas : Between Cross And Resurrection -- Postscript : Christian Para/orthodoxy : Toward A Postmodern Hamartiology. Jason A. Mahn. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Jason Mahn traces the concept of the fortunate Fall through the later writings of Soren Kierkegaard, examining Kierkegaard's blunt critique of Idealism's justification of evil, as well as his playful deconstruction of romantic celebrations of sin.