Provocations Notes

Notes on Provocations by Soren Kierkegaard - Chapters 1 - 54 - Not necessarily whether I agree or disagree (although sometimes I put my own thoughts on it in parentheses.)

I - TO WILL ONE THING

Christianity, an individual journey. Destroying Christendom.

Dare to Decide Chapter 1

Cowardice is the worst vice. It comes with pride. Cowardice vs. Decisiveness.

Decide and go forth. Confess your decision. Renew it with God

Either/Or Chapter 2

You either love God unconditionally or you hate him. To not choose is to choose hate.

Under the Spell of Good Intentions 3

Saying Yes when you're not going to follow through leaves despair and makes you feel like a good person. It's a spell of making people think you're turning to greet them, but really you're walking backwards. You're still walking away from them.

The Greatest Danger 4

Christian politeness. Taking a half dose does the opposite affect of taking a whole dose. Majestic obedience of submission. Mediocrity is the worst offense.

The Task 5

Group secures the abolition of conscious. We prefer to be addressed in a group. No one dares to be an individual self. We are hiding in a sense of togetherness. People are afraid of holding the wrong opinion, and afraid of holding opinions alone. Hiding away in a herd to escape God's personal address to us.

Against the Crowd 6

The crowd is untruth. (Mob mentality) No witness to the truth dares to be involved with the crowd.

Suspending the Ethical 7

Ethical is suspended, and faith is the paradox. Abraham would be tried for murder if ethical was the universal absolute, if just not being evil was all there is. But it's the individual's quest to have faith in God that is the highest absolute. God's will is higher than the universal. It wasn't that Abraham was tempted to kill which is sin, he was tempted to not kill, tempted to disobey God's will. Abraham's justification is paradoxical. (Universal is ethical law, absolute is God). Faith's paradox is the suspension of the ethical. Abraham the tragic hero, no one can give advice to someone living by faith. Faith is a miracle and no human is excluded from it.

To Need God is Perfection 8

Everyone should need God 100% and need physical existence as little as possible. To realize that humans have no power and that we need God is our highest capability. It makes life more difficult knowing you can accomplish nothing on your own, but life acquires a deeper meaning. To know God becomes a crucial thing, because a human cannot grasp his/her nothingness on their own.

Purity of Heart 9

Only will for the truth. The truth is good, only will the one thing, good truth, through purity of heart. (Is that a valid argument? Seems like a fallacy was used.) Willing for pleasure means your will is constantly changing and sometimes craves the opposite thing. Everyone who wills one thing in truth will eventually will the good. If we will one thing it should be unconditionally unaltered. If what we will is constantly changing it makes us double minded and unstable. He who desires the good for the sake of a reward is double minded. He can also not will the good for the sake of avoiding punishment. Fear is a deceitful aid. It leaves satisfaction in avoiding, never in gaining.

Emissaries from Eternity 10

Repentance and Remorse, one drives us forward the other back yet they don't contradict each other. We must look ahead as well as back. The longer and more deeply one treasures repentance the better it becomes. The one present in confession is omniscient. The all-knowing one doesn't get to find out something about those who confess, rather those who confess find out something about themselves.

God Has No Cause 11

To serve God's cause is to face examination. Any cause God has he could make it happen right away, he doesn't need human aid. God requires integrity at every moment.

An Eternity in Which to Repent 12

Don't deceive yourself by taking things now which are meant for later. Just because you're blessed in this life doesn't mean you'll be blessed in the next.

II - TRUTH AND THE PASSION OF INWARDNESS

Truth is the Way 13

You must battle to find truth, it doesn't just come to you. To ask Christ what is truth is the greatest possible confusion. How could Jesus answer pilate's question when he is the truth. The truth is a being, the truth is a life. Truth is the sustenance for life just as food is. It is life.

The Road is How 14

The road is a road even when it's not walked on. The spiritual road only is in existence when it's being walked. It's not when it's walked but how. The road of virtue changes depending on how it's walked on where as a regular road remains unchanged no matter how it's walked on. How one walks on life's road makes all the difference, ex. good samaritan.

Two Ways of Reflection 15

Objective reflection, truth is the object and the point is to disregard yourself, the knowing subject. The subjective reflection the truth becomes and inwardness, a life. Thinking and being are not automatically one and the same. The subjective how and subjectivity are truth. The objective what and objectivity are not. The distance between objective reflection and subjectivity is an infinite one.

The Weight of Inwardness 16

Certitude and inwardness determine whether someone is in truth. Truth increases in quantity and scope (science and technology) while certainty and confidence decline. (The more I learn the more I realize how little I know). We all restlessly fear eternity. We can't think about eternity because we avoid inwardness.

Christ Has No Doctrine 17

If Christianity is that Christ was a human it is history and thus a fact, not a doctrine. It's about believing what is true. Christianity has been transformed into a worldview, a way of thinking about life. By the help of Christianity it is possible to find Christians who have not yet become Christians. The problem is faith has become a belief and pulled into the realm of intellectuality. Becoming a Christian is the sole passion and object of faith.

Faith: The Matchless Lack of Knowledge 18

There isn't a point in proving Jesus was God. Knowing the facts does not help you know the reality of God today. Knowing history doesn't give you faith. You can't prove Christ was in human form, thus you must choose whether or not you want to believe it. History can never convert a proof from the divine-human paradox that is Christ.

Passion and Paradox 19

"The truth is an objective uncertainty held fast through personal appropriation with the most passionate inwardness", this is Kierkegaard's definition of truth, but it is actually also a paraphrasing of faith. Without uncertainty there is no risk and without risk there's no faith."Truth as subjectivity, when it is in highest intensity, holds fast to more than objective uncertainty. When subjectivity or inwardness is truth, then truth, objectively defined, is a paradox" (I think he's saying that the first part about truth is BS and really it's all paradoxical so you can't really define anything concretely in these terms?) So there's eternal truth, and there's existing. You and I exist and thus put the eternal truth into existence in time, this is the paradox. God in Christ (Jesus) ,God on the cross is paradoxical. The less objectivity the more risk the more faith, the more inwardness (subjectivity). Paradox and Passion. Christianity and Faith. God coming to earth as a human put the eternal truth into existence in time, created a paradox. The absurd is the object of faith. You can't pursue both faith and reason because to pursue reason means you find out that the object of your faith might be highly probable and then it's no longer faith. Because with faith your object must be absurd. Christianity is not objective faith, (because we just claimed that objective faith really makes no sense and can't exist), on the contrary Christianity is inwardness. Objectiveness makes people preoccupied with the "what" of Christianity instead of the "how" of being a Christian. Faith puts an end to "to a certain degree". Outward truth is always objective and will be known to a certain degree. Inward truth is subjective and the problem of to what degree can it be known no longer exists. "This is because Christianity is inwardness. Christianity is paradox, and paradox requires but one thing: the passion of faith."

The Folly of Proving God's Existence 20

You can't demonstrate existence. Ex. you can say the thing that exists is a stone but you can't prove the thing exists. You can only prove that the existing thing is a stone. God's essence must involve his existence. You can't separate God from his works. But we can't point out all of God's works, they aren't separate-able to use to prove his existence. Why would you even need to prove God exists unless you've ignored him? Ex. you demonstrate a King's existence by the way you live, by submission. Same with God's existence. It's demonstrated by how you live, not by proofs.

Answering Doubt 21

The need for reasons is already a kind of doubt. Trying to answer the reasons behind doubt only leads to more doubt. When you live as Christ did there isn't any doubt because Christ satisfies the need for reasons. Without a life of trying to imitate Christ, it is impossible to satisfy doubts. You need a decisive act to follow Christ. Once you decide you become at odds with life in this world, you become in opposition to it, there will be a tension - the tension makes you secure in the teachings of Christ.

Alone With God's Word 22

It's not the parts of the bible that are difficult to understand that bind you, it's the parts you do understand. You must satisfy the requests of God at once before pondering the ones that you don't understand. He doesn't read the bible because it immediately calls him to action or to confession. (That seems a little absurd to me). It's not a question of interpretation, but of action.

Followers Not Admirers 23

Christ came to save not instruct. He doesn't want admirers he wants disciples. A follower strives to be what he admires. It's dreadful untruth to admire the truth instead of follow it. There is danger in Christ's commandment. Admirers only follow the truth when it's convenient, they turn away at the sign of danger. The admirer gives up nothing for Christ.

Fear and Trembling 24

Abraham's story could have gone a different way if he didn't listen to God's voice to turn back. Thus we must be obedient always even at the last second, even when Christ commands us to turn back and undo the long journey we've already taken.

III - THE WORKS OF LOVE

God's Triumphant Love 25

God tried to avoid the problem of the King and the Maiden. The unequal love. Not by ascent of the disciple but of decent of himself through Christ. God wants to be equal with the lowly of the low.

Neighbor Love 26

God puts spiritual love in the place of preferential love. Instead of picking a lover or friend, which is hard to do, identifying a neighbor is easy. You yourself should be a neighbor and then that determines who are your neighbors. Christian love teaches love for all people, unconditionally all. Your neighbor is your equal. Not your preferred. You Shall. You shall love your neighbor. He is equal on the basis of your equality before God. Love your neighbor holds above the love of a friend of lover. You can always identify your neighbor and you shall love them. Love to one's neighbor is the most perfect love, because the perfection is not in the object of love but in the love itself, in blind love. There should be no distinction of object in love, thus loving your friend and enemy should be equal in neighborly love. See both the King and beggar for their inner glory. Then you shall see your neighbor, that we are all unconditionally alike.

The Greater Love 27

To help another human love God is to show true love and to be helped by another human to love God is to be loved. To truly love oneself is to love God. For God alone is love. There is a triangular relationship between God and lovers. Even the happiest of love between two people has the danger of becoming too intense causing them to forget God.

Love the Person You See 28

The task is not to find a lovable object, but to find the object before you lovable. John tells us that he who does not love his brother who he can see cannot love God who he cannot see. We foolish people often think that when a person changes for the worse we are exempt from loving them. God loved Peter despite his denial. God loved Peter as Peter without changing him, and it's because of that love that Peter was helped to be changed. True love is a matter of loving the person you see. Christian love loves despite weakness and imperfections.

Love's Hidden Need 29

Human's love is grounded in God's love. Love is boundless and limitless. Love is recognizable by its fruits. Love proceeds from the heart but love itself forms the heart. We must not demand to see love's fruits, but be patient and believe in love.

Love Builds Up 30

Love is the foundation - the origin from which spiritual life is built. Love is the ground, love is building. Love builds up more love. The one who loves accomplishes nothing in building it up, he only brings the love that was already there. Explored some of the 1 Corinthians 13 ideas of love, Love is Patient, etc.

Love's Like-for-Like 31

The forgiveness you give is the forgiveness you receive. To complain against another to God is to complain against yourself. To love human beings is to love God and to love God is to love human beings. God repeats what you say to others.

Love Abides - Forever! 32

The end is the beginning and there is no break, there is no end between lovers if one holds on. Love never fails, it abides.

When Love is Secure 33

Love needs to establish itself securely in the strength of duty. There must be a duty to love. Spontaneous emotional love can change from the greatest happiness to the greatest hatred. Human-inspired love can change into something unrecognizable because of habit. Love transformed by the eternal never becomes a habit. Heed the eternal's "you shall".

IV - ANXIETY AND THE GOSPEL OF SUFFERING

Nebuchadnezzar 34

Story about Nebuchadnezzar, creating a name for oneself in your own dominion.

The War Within 35

The strife with God is the affair of every person but it's rarely discussed. The sacred strife is the strife of eternity.

Sickness Unto Death 36

We all have sickness, we all have some kind of anxiety. Despair is sickness of the spirit. The security and contentment of those who aren't aware of the spiritual aspect of their life are forms of despair. Those who recognize their despair are closer to curing it. A wasted life is one lived by life's pleasures and sorrows that never became eternally conscious.

The Dynamics of Despair 37

Despair is eradicated when the self openly dependent upon God. Finitude's despair. The despair of weakness. The despair of defiance.

Consider the Lilies 38

The worried person forgets that he himself is a human being. Comparison can take hold.

Behold the Birds of the Air 39

You can't be your own providence. You must trust God whether or not your future appears secure.

The Royal Coachman 40

The spirit gives life. First you must die, die to all earthly hope, and then it brings life. Christianity demands great sacrifice, that's it's severity, it waits to remedy. Not until through your love to God you have learned to hate yourself and your own ability can there be talk of the new life that the spirit brings. We are brought up under the world's description of what it means to be human. We want the spirit Himself to be the coachman.

The Invitation 41

Jesus says come to me all who are burdened. How amazing, he invites us all to come. The invitation stands at a crossroad between sin and innocence. The inviter doesn't wait for you to come of your own accord, he lovingly calls to you.

When the Burden is Light 42

If the sufferer believes faith can move mountains than even the hardest of suffering is light. Our joy so great that our yoke becomes light. Only meekness makes the wrong less. Only meekness lightens the load.

A Dangerous Schooling 43

You must learn obedience from suffering. Suffering without learning obedience is a dangerous schooling. Suffering often comes from the outside, but it is not until you take suffering inward that schooling can begin. Suffering is the only guarantee that obedience is not self-willfulness. The only way to find rest in suffering is to let God rule in everything.

To Suffer 'Christianly' 44

Christian suffering is voluntary. The disciples volunteered to follow. To lose everything and to give up everything are not the same. We often preach all human suffering as Christian suffering, because everyone goes through trials, but they are not the same thing. In Christian suffering self-contradiction is necessary. To willingly suffer on account of the world and for the sake of righteousness is how Christ suffered, this alone is Christian suffering.

V - CHRISTIAN COLLISIONS

The Offense 45

Christianity came into the world contrary to human nature and understanding. You can't preach Christianity without offense. Stop trying to make Christianity reasonable and relevant to all. Miracles aren't reasonable.

What Says the Fire Chief 46

When things are serious honest good intentions never suffice. When things are serious either/or applies. When filtering the truth over generations the opposite can end up being embraced.

Christianity Does Not Exist 47

Traveling north doesn't mean you made it to the north pole. You can say you are working on becoming a Christian but once you say "I am a Christian" you no longer need to strive for anything.

What Madness 48

The cast of Christianity, with such a complete cast one would assume we have Christianity too. Same with the complete inventory of the church. Numbers can be a dangerous illusion, that the big numbers matter. Christ requires followers, to be salt, to be willing to be sacrificed.

The Echo Answers 49

You can't preach Christianity as truth without having to suffer in this world. When one preaches Christianity and the echo answers "away with that man he doesn't deserve to live" that is the Christianity of the New Testament.

The Tax Collector 50

One must stand alone with God without keeping others in mind. The picture between the tax collector and the Pharisee is inverted and suddenly the tax collector is near God and the Pharisee far. The tax collector's downcast eyes see God.

Gospel For the Poor 51

The gospel, according to the New Testament, is for the poor, but it has morphed into the wrongful idea that people are poor because they are not pious.

How God Relates Inversely 52

"God's nearness is inversely related to externals". "Established Christianity is about as far away from God as one can possibly get."

Undercover Clergy 53

The pastor for the temperance society drinks a lot. Student asks how he can be a hypocrite basically, Pastor says it's fine because the people he brings into the society stay with it.

"First' the Kingdom of God" 54

First the Kingdom of God. We take to reading it as last the kingdom of God, and we do so because of religious piety. We get so caught up in securing a living that we lose sight of the kingdom altogether.