Soren Kierkegaard and Karl Barth, contributors to existentialism and neo-orthodoxy, stand as two of the most significant figures in philosophy and theology respectively. They share similar beliefs, and in many ways, Kierkegaard had an influence on Barth. Yet, this relationship is not as simple as it first appears because Barth criticized some of Kierkegaard’s views later in his life. We will compare and contrast the difficult question of how Kierkegaard and Barth were similar and unlike throughout this paper. Rather than merely stating that Barth is a follower of Kierkegaard, it will be shown that there are significant similarities, and several differences between these two. Soren Kierkegaard is known as the tremendous philosopher of “Existentialism”. Kierkegaard was a major source for Existentlism during the 20th century but it would be inaccurate if we call him an Existentlism. Existentialism means an emphasis upon man creating his own nature as well as the importance of personal freedom, decision, and commitment. Kierkegaard believed in free will, the claim that some human choices are not coerced or determined either by outside forces or one’s genetic makeup. The problem for him was historical, that Christian faith was simply a matter of believing Christian doctrines as matters of historical fact. Kierkegaard’s problem was in division the …show more content…
For Kierkegaard, it is not just faith, something that we hold to inwardly. Whereby faith is important, for Christian we make faith apart of our daily lives. Before we could extended a word to someone about faith we need have a clear understanding of