Sydney Smith 
Denysha Taylor Soren Kierkegaard was both a philosopher and a theologian. While he was one of the first major voices who seemed to fit into the existentialist mold he also was a devout Christian, which was rare among the existentialists, especially later on. I feel that he fits into the category of Redemption for several reasons. He exemplified redemption in his own life from rejecting religion after his father told of his marital unfaithfulness when Soren was young. He then returned to faith when he was 25. Existentialism does not seem like a theory that necessarily speaks of hope and redemption but the way Kierkegaard explained it is. You can see Redemption in how he explained faith as well as his Stages. He tries to redeem the faith of his time which was very much in the mold of Luther and therefore was quite rigid. He came in with the spirit of a Romantic and spoke in terms of having a Love affair with God. He believed that faith shouldn’t be based on rules in regulations but instead the individual having a relationship with God. This in many ways sounds like the way much of the church feels now. Another way that Kierkegaard fits the redemption mold is the stages he thinks people go through. He thinks they start out in the aesthetic stage, in which they broken and hedonistic. They search for pleasure. The next level is the ethical stage where they make their choices on ethical principles but they are principles learned from others. Finally is the religious stage which is described as the highest level of existence. This is where they are accepting of their responsibility and have a personal relationship with God. This exemplifies an attempt at redemption because Kierkegaard is disagreeing with many others of the time who say that faith is weakness he is trying to bring faith back into the equation saying that not only is valid but in fact, the most valid way to live.
Levi Ritchie
7:30 pm, 10.05.13
I’ve wondered whether, in putting religion above the other stages of development, Kierkegaard was taking something he felt was important and generalizing it to be the highest level of thought for all people. In some ways, I feel like this contradicts the original gospel, which is a message of good news for people in all walks of life. Especially looking to Luke’s gospel, which has an emphasis on people who are very poor (often, like many homeless today, because they suffered from major mental disabilities), it seems like a personal relationship with God is too complicated to put on a scale like this.
Still, I think this is an accurate comparison of Kierkegaard’s ideals with the Christian theological narrative.
Meredith Thornton
4:51 pm, 10.06.13
Matt I love this point of view regarding Kierkegaard. I like the way you categorized him based on his life arc instead of just his beliefs at one certain point. The way you explain his beliefs about our relationship with God and the way he explained existentialism in a way that it agreed with faith is great. Considering all of this I totally agree with you categorizing Kierkegaard under redemption.
Matt McMahon
6:39 pm, 10.07.13
Levi, I think you made several good points. I think his theory can still fit with the gospel in the sense that while a personal relationship is the pinnacle. The good news is still for everyone.
Laura Kate Music
11:41 pm, 10.07.13
I think that Kierkegaard does fit into the redemption category fairly well. He did seem to try to get others to think of Christianity in a different light, with a new outlook. His view of a relationship with God is in alignment with many modern views of Christianity. Great post overall!