Abstract
Among the current swell of literature that reads Kierkegaard through an avowedly theological lens, Andrew Torrance has provided an important and lucidly expressed book which promises to become a key text for future Kierkegaardian theology. By placing the relationship or ‘communion’ with a God who ‘has established kinship with us in time’ (p. 200) at the centre of his study, Torrance provides a vital corrective to readings which situate human agency and categories at the heart of what it means to become a Christian. While this work is illuminated by an obvious empathy for Kierkegaard’s thought, Torrance’s work does not succumb to the temptations of hagiography. In eliciting an informed and perceptive account of Kierkegaard’s vision of ‘becoming a Christian’, Torrance also retains the critical eye of an astute theologian. For example, while elaborating the Christocentric focus of Kierkegaard’s thinking, Torrance also critically observes a rather underdeveloped pneumatology within Kierkegaard’s theology. As such, although Kierkegaard’s vision is offered as an important reminder for contemporary Christianity of a God who is ‘for us and with us in Jesus Christ’ (p. 198), it is not proffered as a panacea for all that ails the Church.
Torrance is right in affirming that Kierkegaard’s central concern unfolds as the question of what it means to become a Christian. However, one might be left feeling that this book does not speak as explicitly to what it means to become a Christian in Christendom: that is, in the decadence of the false elision between Christianity and the state. An essential expression of this struggle, for Kierkegaard, is the manifestation of suffering: a theme that could arguably have warranted more explicit attention in Torrance’s account (pp. 93–4 and pp. 144–5 notwithstanding). Nonetheless, such a focus would perhaps skew the impressive scope of this extensive study – a scope that would, however, benefit from clarification through the inclusion of an introductory overview or roadmap of the book’s argument. There are also places where some readers will inevitably wish Torrance had ventured further. For example, while the book acknowledges more sceptical readings of Kierkegaard’s relationship to Christianity and the divine governance of his authorship, it does not engage with them in depth. Torrance frequently observes that ‘I agree with X’ or ‘I disagree with Y’ without explicating why. As such, the compelling reading of Kierkegaard the book presents is set alongside, rather than in critical tension with, readings of a less theologically informed nature.
One might, furthermore, be left wanting an answer to the question of what kind of Christianity Kierkegaard envisions: in other words, to what extent is this Christianity commensurate with Lutheran, Pietistic, Catholic or even mystical Christianity, especially given the eclectic and extensive range of Kierkegaard’s theological influences. However, in not being drawn into such digressions, Torrance evades the more sectarian temptations that frequently disrupt theological dialogue. As such, Torrance draws us more deeply into the heart of Kierkegaard’s relational account of becoming a Christian, according to which, ‘In its truest form, … the Christian faith exists as a living witness and active expression of God’s relationship to us in and through Jesus Christ. It is out of a passionate devotion to the personal reality of God that an individual takes up the task of becoming a Christian’ (p. 190). Such ‘passionate devotion’ shines through in Torrance’s distinctive text, in many senses, recalling us to the prophetic potential of Kierkegaard’s voice – a voice which Torrance’s exceptional text attends to with great depth and which resonates throughout this book with the radiance of authenticity.