Existentialist Theologians: Augustine of Hippo, Emmanuel Levinas, Franz Rosenzweig, Gabriel Marcel, John MacQuarrie, Karl Barth, Martin Buber, Nik

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 49. Chapters: Augustine of Hippo, Emmanuel Levinas, Franz Rosenzweig, Gabriel Marcel, John Macquarrie, Karl Barth, Martin Buber, Nikolai Berdyaev, Paul Tillich, Rudolf Bultmann, Soren Kierkegaard. Excerpt: Soren Aabye Kierkegaard ( or; Danish: ( listen)) (5 May 1813 11 November 1855) was a Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic, and religious author. He wrote critical texts on organized religion, Christendom, morality, ethics, psychology and philosophy of religion, displaying a fondness for metaphor, irony and parables. He is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. Much of his philosophical work deals with the issues of how one lives as a "single individual," giving priority to concrete human reality over abstract thinking, and highlighting the importance of personal choice and commitment. He was a fierce critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel as well as Danish pastors Jacob Peter Mynster and Hans Lassen Martensen. His theological work focuses on Christian ethics, on the institution of the Church, and on the differences between purely objective proofs of Christianity. He wrote of the individual's subjective relationship to Jesus Christ, the God-Man, which came through faith. Much of his work deals with the art of Christian love. He was extremely critical of the practice of Christianity as a state religion, primarily that of the Church of Denmark. His psychological work explored the emotions and feelings of individuals when faced with life choices. His thinking was influenced by Socrates and the Socratic method. Kierkegaard's early work was written under various pseudonyms whom he used to present distinctive viewpoints and interact with each other in complex dialogue. He assigned pseudonyms to explore particular viewpoints in-depth, which required several books in some instances, while Kierkegaard, openly or under another pseudonym, critiqued that position. He wrote many Upbuilding Discourses under his own name and dedicated them to the "single individual" who might want t