KIERKEGAARD AND THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

by Bradley R. Dewey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 22, 1968

The ""imitation of Christ"" theme as a spiritual ideal --whether it is the stark ideal of a Kempis or the this-worldly one of Bruce Barton -- has largely been abandoned in contemporary spirituality, mostly because of the historical, psychological, and even sociological inadequacies of its traditional presentations. The author asserts the validity of that theme, and he maintains that it has been presented in a form suitable for modern man in the works of Kierkegnard. The book is a demonstration of that thesis, examining as it does ""the imitation of Christ"" in the writings of Kierkegaard from the triple aspect of the imitator (the human self), the imitated (the historical -- i.e., human -- Christ), and the act or practice of imitation in its sundry modes. Although the book is sound, both theologically and logically, and it is as persuasive as it is well written, it fails in that it attempts to conjure up two ghosts; the will to ""imitate"" which is (albeit only apparently) foreign to the contemporary spirit of activism; and the authority of Kierkegaard, which, in this country at least, has lost its allure. The book is not too little by far, but it is too late.

Pub Date: Nov. 22, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Corpus Books

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION