Trinity Forum: Søren Kierkegaard, Truth is Subjectivity

Trinity Episcopal Church in Concord invites you to its Sunday morning Adult Forum, Trinity's adult education program, which meets weekly at 9 AM to hear speakers sharing their experiences on one of six themes — word, worship, wonder, world, witness, work — each being an important aspect connecting faith with everyday life.  Trinity's complete Forum schedule is available at http://trinityconcord.org/forum.shtml.

On Sunday, September 15 at 9 AM we focus on "word" in a presentation on  the thought of Søren Kierkegaard.  Kierkegaard’s primary concern is his reader, whom he refers to as “the existing individual.” He wants to lead the reader to “once again read through solo, if possible in a more  inward way, the original text of individual human  existence-relationships.” This more inward way is subjective thinking. Kierkegaard felt that the mentality of his times was infected by a “disease of reflection,” that objective rational thought, appropriate to the sciences, was overly employed in areas of human existence (such as ethics and religion). The result is that one thinks, but does not live, important concepts. In contrast, Kierkegaard has little interest in elaborating theories or doctrines; instead his goal is to train his reader in making the “original text” a living reality in all of his or her life. This talk will illustrate subjective thinking by quotes from Kierkegaard, and show how it applies to specific concepts: the neighbor, community, working, happiness, faith, justification — to name a few. This is as relevant to our times as it was to Kierkegaard’s Denmark.

Speaker Dale Landis is a member of Trinity's book group. He was educated as a mathematician and is retired from an engineering career. In non-professional life he reads literature and the works of Søren Kierkegaard. He is married with two children and five grandchildren.

Trinity's invited Forum speakers come from many walks of life and have addressed all manner of topics -- serious, mysterious, personal and world-focussed. Among our recent topics are pilgrimage, faith lost and found, histories and Biblical persons, death, dying and grieving, parenting, stewardship, education, and much more.

Childcare begins in Trinity's nursery at 9 AM; Trinity's buildings are fully accessible.  For further information on this or other programs at Trinity, please call our Parish Office, 978/369-3715, or visit us online at http://www.trinityconcord.org.