On Kierkegaard’s 200th Birthday
Hans Ulrich has been very kind about my work. He suggested to me once in conversation that, while my first book (Kierkegaard and the Treachery of Love) is about Kierkegaard, my second book (Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction) is my attempt to inhabit Kierkegaard. And so is my third. Teaching Kierkegaard’s texts is a joy, but I am not terribly invested in creating more Kierkegaard scholars per se. I am happiest when one of his texts surprises a young, pious student into the realization that Christianity is often more amenable to delicate fairy tales than to managerial plans, logical proofs, or other sorts of ecclesial body-armor. Read more
