The Freedom to Become a Christian: A Kierkegaardian Account of Human Transformation in Relationship with God by Andrew B. Torrance

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Freedom to Become a Christian: A Kierkegaardian Account of Human Transformation in Relationship with God by Andrew B. Torrance Walter Wietzke The Freedom to Become a Christian: A Kierkegaardian Account of Human Transformation in Relationship with God. By Andrew B. Torrance. London: Bloomsbury Press, 2016. 217 pp. In his book The Point of View for My Work as an Author, Kierkegaard wrote that the central issue of his authorship had been to explain what it meant for a person to become a Christian. This remark has captivated readers ever since, and numerous arguments have been offered for how Kierkegaard understands Christian religious transformation (i.e., conversion), including religious, social, and psychological explanations. It is also the subject of Torrance's book. Torrance argues that, for Kierkegaard, God's assistance is essential for Christian conversion. The book has five chapters. Chapter one is an exposition of the moral and psychological concepts in Kierkegaard's writings relevant to religious conversion. Chapter two elucidates the theme ofxy [End Page 230] reconciliation in Kierkegaard's writings, describing the various parables and metaphors Kierkegaard uses to explain how God brings about salvation for humans. Chapters three and four explain the human side of this process—specifically, the kinds of beliefs and values that facilitate the reception of divine assistance. Chapter five concludes with more discussion of how humans relate to God, as well as some critical analysis of scholarship that minimizes how Kierkegaard understands God's role in conversion. In general, Torrance's analysis is illuminating and innovative. This book is not written for the beginning student of Kierkegaard, but it will be very helpful to those looking for an analytical account of a Christian conversion experience. It also distinguishes itself with a deeper incorporation of Kierkegaard's religious writings into a discussion that usually focuses on his philosophical works. Yet, on this note, an abiding concern of mine has to do with the fact that Kierkegaard's main philosophical positions conflict with some of the dogmatic Christian views expressed in the religious writings, a fact that raises some questions about Torrance's main thesis. For example, Concluding Unscientific Postscript (arguably Kierkegaard's most important philosophical work) treats Christian dogma as a hypothetical issue: if the claims of God's intervention in human history through the person of Jesus Christ are true, then it must be true that Christian doctrine is absurd, paradoxical, and offensive to reason. Christianity is incommensurate with a naturalistic explanation of human nature, and several important claims follow. Crucially, in this view human beings lack the epistemic ability to know whether God really exists, whether Jesus was truly the Son of God, or even if the individual aspiring to become a Christian ever succeeds. Belief in these matters is a matter of faith, not knowledge. If they were objects of our knowledge their status would shift to that of objective, historical facts, and this would invalidate one of the central arguments of the Postscript. That is, once religious beliefs become objective facts, they can no longer support the subjective conditions necessary for religious faith. It is the uncertainty of religious dogma that generates the passion that is the defining characteristic of religious faith. To be sure, Torrance acknowledges all these points in Kierkegaard's work, but [End Page 231] granting them requires having a more nuanced account of God's role in our religious life. The Sickness Unto Death provides an important perspective on this issue. In this work Kierkegaard explains how the concept of sin draws a line between the naturalistic, non-Christian explanations and Christian explanations of human existence. Sin attributes a human being's failure to achieve moral or religious goals to a fundamentally flawed constitution. Kierkegaard is also clear that the concept of sin strictly belongs to Christian religious faith; no secular, purely psychological explanation for how human beings are so constitutionally flawed is possible. The result is that an individual will understand her experience of moral failure differently depending on whether or not she believes in sin. Torrance provides helpful exposition of these issues, but he does not draw out their implications for the subject of conversion. As with belief in sin, once...