From Despair to Faith

<p>Sren Kierkegaard has been called many things from brooding genius and melancholy Dane to the father of existentialism. Yet rather than clarify the nature of Kierkegaards writings such labels have often obscured other important aspects of his authorship. Such indeed is the case with Kierkegaards standing as a spiritual author.</p><p>In <strong>From Despair to Faith: The Spirituality of </strong>Sren<strong> Kierkegaard</strong> Christopher B. Barnett endeavors to remedy this problem. He does so in two overarching ways. First he orients the reader to Kierkegaards grounding in the Christian spiritual tradition as well as to the Danes own authorial stress on themes such as upbuilding spiritual journey and faith. Second Barnett maintains that Kierkegaards spirituality is best understood through the various pictures that populate his authorship. These pictures are deemed icons of faith since Kierkegaard consistently recommends that the reader contemplate them. In this way they both represent and communicate what Kierkegaard sees as the fulfillment of Christian existence.</p><p>In the end then <strong>From Despair to Faith</strong> not only offers a new way of approaching Kierkegaard's writings but also shows how they might serve to illuminate and to deepen one's relationship with the divine.</p>