Works of Love

Works of Love (Danish: Kjerlighedens Gjerninger) is a work by Søren Kierkegaard written in 1847. It is one of the works which he published under his own name, as opposed to his more famous "pseudonymous" works. Works of Love deals primarily with the Christian conception of agape love in contrast with erotic love (eros) or preferential love (phileo) given to friends and family. Kierkegaard uses this value/virtue to understand the existence and relationship of the individual Christian. Having helped found Existentialism, he uses it and a high level of theology citing the scriptures of the Christian Bible. Many of the chapters take a mention of love from the New Testament and center reflections about the transfer of individuals from secular modes (the stages of the aesthetic and ethical) to genuine religious experience and existence. Since human experience is a key to understanding Kierkegaard, the actual relationships and experiences of disciples and of Christ are characterized here as tangible models for behavior.

Kierkegaard as a Christian ethicist (represented by this work) is likely to be considered distinct from many ways in which the religion's mainstream seems to function from the viewpoint of an outside observer. This is not only a function of Christian existentialism but also of his time period and political events occurring in his native Denmark.

Themes

Part One — Topics include: Love's Hidden Life and Its Recognisability by its Fruits, You Shall Love, You Shall Love Your Neighbour, Love is the Fulfilling of the Law, Love is a Matter of Conscience, Our Duty to Love Those We See, and Our Duty to be in the Debt of Love to Each Other
Part Two — Topics include: Love Builds up, Love Believes all Things and Yet is Never Deceived, Love Hopes all Things and Yet is Never Put to Shame, Love Seeks Not its Own, Love Hides The Multiplicity of Sins, Love Abides, Mercifulness, a Work of Love, Even if it Can Give Nothing and Is Capable of Doing Nothing, The Victory of Reconciliation in Love Which Wins the Vanquished, The work of Love in Remembering One Dead, and The Work of Love in Praising Love

Style

The Works as Kierkegaard himself states are Christian reflections and not discourses. It is written in a rhetorical style where he often repeats his words and gives numerous examples.

External links

Quotations related to Works of Love (Kierkegaard) at Wikiquote
Works of Love, Swenson translation, 1972 edition
Works of Love, Howard Hong's 1962 translation Google Books
Works of Love, George Pattison's 2009 translation
Works of Love, Princeton University Press, 2013 Hong translation'
M. Jamie Ferreira, Love's Grateful Striving : A Commentary on Kierkegaard's Works of Love 2001
Storm's commentary on Works of Love

Søren Kierkegaard

1841–1846	On the Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates Either/Or De omnibus dubitandum est: Everything Must Be Doubted Two Upbuilding Discourses, 1843 Repetition Three Upbuilding Discourses, 1843 Fear and Trembling Four Upbuilding Discourses, 1843 Sermon Preached at Trinity Church, 1844 Two Upbuilding Discourses, 1844 Three Upbuilding Discourses, 1844 Philosophical Fragments Prefaces The Concept of Anxiety Four Upbuilding Discourses, 1844 Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions Stages on Life's Way Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments Two Ages: A Literary Review

1847–1854	Edifying Discourses in Diverse Spirits Works of Love Christian Discourses The Crisis and a Crisis in the Life of an Actress The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air Two Minor Ethical-Religious Essays The Sickness Unto Death Three Discourses at the Communion on Fridays Practice in Christianity Two Discourses at the Communion on Fridays The Book on Adler For Self-Examination Attack Upon Christendom

Posthumous	The Point of View of My Work as an Author Judge for Yourselves! The Journals Writing Sampler

Ideas	Philosophy Theology Angst Anguish Authenticity Double-mindedness Indirect communication Infinite qualitative distinction Knight of faith Leap to faith Levelling Present age Ressentiment Rotation method Thorn in the flesh Despair

Related topics	Works about Kierkegaard Regine Olsen Peter Kierkegaard Hans Lassen Martensen Jacob Peter Mynster J. L. Heiberg Thomasine Christine Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd Adolph Peter Adler Influence and reception of Søren Kierkegaard Danish Golden Age Søren Kierkegaard Research Center Howard V. and Edna H. Hong Kierkegaard Library Prayers of Kierkegaard

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