Peter Vardy, Kierkegaard

Abstract

Peter Vardy's Kierkegaard was originally published as part of the Fount Christian Thinkers series and later revised and minimally expanded as the SPCK Introduction to Kierkegaard. Vardy's particular focus is to highlight the importance of Kierkegaard's ideas as a specifically Christian thinker. Vardy's reading is not only intended for the sake of interpreting Kierkegaard but for interpreting who God is and what it means to live in relationship with him. Many of the themes dealt with contain corrections to popular caricatures, for example, "Kierkegaard does not reject community, but he does consider that genuine community can only be found amidst people who have first become individuals." For the most part, Vardy is seeking to redress the balance in the interpretation of Kierkegaard for the uninitiated reader. Even as he excavates Kierkegaard's concepts, Vardy continually brings the question back to the pressing concern of the readers themselves.