Kierkegaard and the Self before God: Anatomy of the Abyss (Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion)

Simon D. Podmore Claims That Becoming A Self Before God Is Both A Divine Gift And An Anxious Obligation. Before We Can Know God, Or Ourselves, We Must Come To A Moment Of Recognition. How This Comes To Be, As Well As The Terms Of Such Acknowledgment, Are Worked Out In Podmore's Powerful New Reading Of Kierkegaard. As He Gives Full Consideration To Kierkegaard's Writings, Podmore Explores Themes Such As Despair, Anxiety, Melancholy, And Spiritual Trial, And How They Are Broken By The Triumph Of Faith, Forgiveness, And The Love Of God. He Confronts The Abyss Between The Self And The Divine In Order To Understand How We Can Come To Know Ourselves In Relation To A God Who Is Apparently So Wholly Other. -- Publisher's Description. Introduction: Anatomy Of The Abyss -- The Inner Abyss -- The Abyss Of Melancholy -- The Melancholy Theophany -- The Allegory Of Yisra[ham]el -- The Anatomy Of Spiritual Trial -- The Gaze Of The Abyss -- Conclusions: The (im)possible And The (un)forgivable. Simon D. Podmore. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Content: Introduction: anatomy of the abyss -- The inner abyss -- The abyss of melancholy -- The melancholy theophany -- The allegory of Yisraʼel -- The anatomy of spiritual trial -- The gaze of the abyss -- Conclusions: the (im)possible and the (un)forgivable. A distinctive reading of Kierkegaard's philosophy of religion