Kierkegaard's Drunken Christianity

Today, many Americans will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo, a holiday celebrated in America and Mexico that commemorates the Mexican Army’s victory in the Battle of Pueblo. In America, most of the celebration is accompanied by copious amounts of partying. Unlike most Americans, I see today as a different sort of holiday: the 201st birthday of Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard’s thought offers an interesting reflection for us on this tequila-drenched holiday.

For Kierkegaard, the Modern Age has ushered in a state of nominal Christianity. Hegel’s “objectivity” has removed the subjectivity and relational nature of the God-Who-Became-Man. Rather than actually suffering for Christ and participating in good works, “Christendom” merely speaks the language of Christianity without actually practicing its tenets. To remedy this state of affairs, Kierkegaard recommends that we undergo “self-examination,” using his writings as means toward edifying our faith and understanding our individual standings before God.