Søren Kierkegaard and the Courage to Be a Christian: Why Christendom Is Not Christianity
- Ken Kalis
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
I met Kierkegaard at Rutgers 1n the 1960s, and he came just in time.
My agnostic professors were mocking my Bible upbringing trying to make me look like a fool.
I was no match for them academically or intellectually... Kierkegaard was. He said:
“Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you?
Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God.
Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.”
Point, set, match for Kierkegaard.
“The crowd is untruth.”— Søren Kierkegaard
Courage is not loud.Courage is not militant.And in Kierkegaard’s world, courage is not popular.
The courage Kierkegaard demanded was something far more disturbing than activism or heroics. It was the courage to believe the New Testament as written — and to live accordingly — alone if necessary, against the entire weight of polite, institutional Christianity.
That courage cost him almost everything.
Christendom: Christianity Without Christ
Kierkegaard’s great enemy was not atheism.It was Christendom — a society where everyone was “Christian” by birth, citizenship, and baptism, but no one was required to follow Christ.
In 19th-century Denmark:
Everyone belonged to the Lutheran Church
Clergy were salaried state officials
Christianity was respectable, comfortable, cultural
Faith required no risk, no repentance, no obedience
Kierkegaard looked at this system and said, in effect:
This is not Christianity.This is a parody of it.
He wrote with biting irony:
“Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.”
Why dreadful?
Because when you are alone with the New Testament, there is no crowd to hide behind. No tradition to excuse disobedience. No clergy to soften the commands of Jesus.
Only you — and Christ.
That takes courage.
The Cost of Standing Alone
Kierkegaard did not merely write against Christendom. He lived against it.
His stance cost him dearly.
• His Church
He refused to participate in a state church that made Christianity easy. He rejected paid clergy who preached comfort instead of repentance.
• His Reputation
He became a public mockery.Cartoons ridiculed him. Pamphlets attacked him. He was dismissed as bitter, extreme, unstable.
• His Engagement
Most painfully, Kierkegaard broke off his engagement to Regine Olsen.
He loved her deeply. But he believed — rightly or wrongly — that he could not be both:
a comfortable husband in Christendom
and a prophetic witness against it
He chose solitude over domestic happiness.
That is not romantic courage.That is fearful, trembling obedience.
Faith Is Not Agreement — It Is Risk
Kierkegaard’s central insight is devastatingly simple:
Christianity is not something you agree with.Christianity is something you risk yourself upon.
In Christendom, belief is safe. In Christianity, belief is costly.
Jesus does not say:
“Admire Me”
“Study Me”
“Appreciate Me”
He says:
“If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself,and take up his cross, and follow Me.”— Matthew 16:24
Kierkegaard insisted that every true Christian stands alone before God, just as Abraham stood alone on Mount Moriah.
Not heroic.Not confident. But obedient.
Why This Matters Now
We live in a new form of Christendom.
Not state-sponsored — but culturally managed.
Christianity that avoids offense
Worship that avoids repentance
Sermons that avoid judgment
Faith that never costs relationships, reputation, or comfort
Kierkegaard would ask us:
Do you follow Christ — or merely belong to a Christian crowd?
Would your faith survive if you stood alone with the New Testament?
Does your Christianity require courage — or only conformity?
He would warn us that mass Christianity produces no Christians at all.
Only disciples do.
The True Courage to Be a Christian
Kierkegaard does not call us to rebellion for rebellion’s sake.He calls us to something harder:
To obey Christ even when respectable Christians disapprove
To believe Scripture even when scholars mock
To follow Jesus even when it costs love, security, and belonging
This is not bravado.It is fear and trembling before God.
As Scripture says:
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”— Hebrews 10:31
And yet — it is the only place where life is found.
A Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,Save me from a faith that costs nothing. Save me from hiding behind crowds, institutions, and traditions.
Give me the courage to stand alone with Your Word,to believe it,to obey it,and to follow You wherever You lead.
Even if it costs me comfort. Even if it costs me approval. Even if it costs me everything but You.
Amen.
Reflection Question
If you were stripped of Christian culture, Christian community, and Christian approval —would you still follow Christ?
That is the question Kierkegaard leaves with us.
********************************
Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His Name?
Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?
Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?
Sure I must fight if I would reign;
Increase my courage, Lord.
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.
Thy saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer, though they die;
They see the triumph from afar,
By faith’s discerning eye.
When that illustrious day shall rise,
And all Thy armies shine
In robes of victory through the skies,
The glory shall be Thine.
Isaac Watts, 1721
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit
you like men, be strong. 1 Cor 16:13
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