‘No Faith in Religion: Some Variations on a Kierkegaardian Theme’.
Summary of a lecture given by the Rt Revd Dr John Saxbee (Bishop of Lincoln) to the Hull & District Theological Society on 10 November 2010.
Summary by Ann Eccleston
Dr. Saxbee in his lecture explained the great influence of Soren Kierkegaard to theology and philosophy by tracing his teaching and influence in his pupils.
“What became known as Soren Kierkegaard’s “Attack upon Christendom” stirred up a hornet’s nest in Copenhagen, but as with the rest of Kierkegaard’s authorship, it barely caused a ripple elsewhere. This reflected the fact that Danish was not a language widely read in Europe, and even in this period which became known as “the Golden Age” Copenhagen remained a relatively remote provincial city.”
“At the heart of Kierkegaard’s attack upon Christendom was a parable which powerfully expresses the way in which religion succumbs to the State by diluting the requirements of Christianity so that the State can domesticate it to its own purposes and priorities. …”
“This is a classic example of how faith falls foul of religion, which then, in its turn, finds itself prey to political and socio-economic interests intent upon colonising it to their own ends. Perhaps the established Church in 19th Century Denmark was not nearly so corrosive of the Christian faith as Kierkegaard contends …”
“As we have seen, Kierkegaard promoted a path through life which must lead ultimately to an abyss of meaningless anxiety and despair or to a leap of faith. The seduction of religion with premiums placed on objective certainty and rationality must ultimately give way to an objective uncertainty and rationality must ultimately give way to an objective uncertainty where truth and subjectivity, … and the single individual stands alone before God. Reason has a vital role to play in discerning and interpreting the word and will of God, but then when we reach the very margins of meaning it is passionate inwardness rather than the objective externals of religion which will see us over the abyss.”
“Bonhoeffer was initially attracted to Karl Barth who in his early work, influenced by Kierkegaard, offered a critique of religion. However, he soon became impatient with Barth’s timidity when it came to standing up to the Nazis because, for Bonhoeffer, the Church is never merely the guardian of a revelation which has its origin and existence outside and beyond the cut and thrust of human life and relationships. …. In Bonhoeffer’s view, it was not possible to detach discipleship from the cut and thrust of politics, and neither was it possible to cut the cost of discipleship by retreating into a form of personal piety which seeks to rise above, rather than work through, the difficult decisions demanded of us day by day.”
“This clearly mirrors much that we find in Kierkegaard’s Attack upon Christendom with the implication that Faith has been compromised by religion because religion dilutes the demands of discipleship either by reducing them to mere conditions of membership, or neutralizing them so that they can be accommodated to the requirements of secular causes at a knock down price and little effort.”
For Bonhoeffer … “To be a Christian does not mean being religious in a particular way – performing religious acts or working to cultivate a religious turn of mind – rather, it is about getting stuck in to secular life and thereby sharing in God’s suffering in a godless world.”
According to John Godsey, Bonhoeffer thought “The Christian life is one of proclamation and praise, of prayer and doing right; opening the mouth for those who cannot speak and risking acts of liberation on behalf of the oppressed. Only a life so lived avoids ‘cheap grace’ and witness to the love of God for the world”.
“Bonhoeffer urges us to be less scared: he shows that theological liberalism is intimately related to the Pauline and Lutheran passion for freedom.”
“To follow Bonhoeffer “all the Way” is effectively to follow him along a path already marked out by Kierkegaard and which leads to faith rather than religion – emunah rather than pistis – as the ultimate expression of Christian discipleship.”
“… whereas Kierkegaard saw beyond religion (Religiousness A) to faith (Religiousness B), Nietzsche settles for the mere recurrence of experience over and over again and a New Man who affirms not God but himself and this ideal man, the superman, is the one who has sufficient will power to will this recurrence “insatiably calling ‘da capo’, not only to himself but to the whole pageant of existence.”
“If only Nietzsche had read Kierkegaard so that over and beyond the realms of religion which he rightly relegated to at best penultimate significance, he might had found a faith for humanity come of age in the image of Bonhoeffer’s God rather than in the hubristic image of his own narcissistic self.“
“Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Bonhoeffer have been critical to the evolution of western philosophy and theology over the past 150 years. … For Kierkegaard and Bonhoeffer, though sadly not for Nietzsche, faith as the placing of ourselves at the service of God’s agendas came ever more sharply into focus. They stand sentinel for those who continue to find no faith in religion.”
Dr. John Saxbee in his talk was succinct and aroused so much interest that many members purchased copies of his book (No Faith in Religion. Some Variations on a Theme (Winchester: O Books, 2009)) on a mere chapter of which this talk was based.
