The Concept of Anxiety: A Simple Psychologically Oriented Deliberation in View of the Dogmatic Problem of Hereditary Sin

A key belief in Christianity mentioned by Kierkegaard, the Atonement is the idea that the death of Jesus Christ offered humanity salvation from its sins through his death and resurrection. This redemption is often equated in traditional Christian thought as offering a corrective to the “original sin” introduced into the human race by Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden.

Concupiscentia is Kierkegaard’s term for “inordinate desire,” and more specifically sexual desire. He argues that such desires are not inherently sinful: Concupiscentia “is a determinant of guilt and sin antecedent to guilt and sin, and yet still is not guilt and sin” (40, emphasis added). Nevertheless, he believes that such inordinate desire can lead to sin.

Dogmatics refers to theology concerned with religious truths and doctrines. Kierkegaard insists there is a strict boundary between what can be known through logic, reason, and scientific observation, and what can only be understood through faith and theology, i.e., dogmatics. For example, the science of psychology can address the question of why people sin, but the nature of sin itself is a matter only for dogmatics (32), as only faith can resolve the problem of sin.

In contrast to Providence, which is God intervening in people’s lives and having a predetermined plan for the world, Kierkegaard defines fate as the belief some people have that random events in their lives are somehow preordained. Kierkegaard believes fate is not an actual thing, but the idea of it can lead certain individuals to a belief in Providence. He also tends to associate fate with paganism, especially classical Greek paganism, which he contrasts with Christian conceptions of time and the eternal in the light of Providence.

In some forms of traditional Christianity, hereditary sin, also called original sin, is the belief that all people are born sinful as a result of the actions of the first humans, Adam and Eve. Kierkegaard challenges this view, instead interpreting hereditary sin as the idea that every human, including Adam and Eve, becomes sinful as the result of their free will.

Unlike actuality, which deals with real objects and actions, ideality deals purely with the realm of ideas. Kierkegaard argues that ethics is entirely about ideality, and asserts that this is why ethics alone cannot solve the problem of sin, as sin is rooted in action.

A concept from the philosophical work of G.W.F. Hegel, immediacy is the concept that people can experience things and events without anything mediating or filtering that experience. Kierkegaard argues against this view, suggesting that immediacy as a concept only applies to logic and not matters of faith.

Traditionally, paganism refers to the belief in multiple gods, especially in the context of ancient Europe and the Middle East. In Kierkegaard’s writing, paganism refers more generally to a lack of true knowledge of the Christian God.

Pelagianism refers to the theology of a 4th-century British theologian, Pelagius, who was condemned as a heretic by the Catholic Church. Rejecting the view of hereditary sin, Pelagius argued instead that anyone could avoid sin throughout their life. Kierkegaard seems anxious that his thoughts on sin might be seen as Pelagianism (34; 37) when instead Kierkegaard does believe everyone commits sin because of the possibilities of choice created by free will.

Providence is the belief that God intervenes in benevolent ways in people’s lives and has a predetermined plan for the world. Kierkegaard contrasts Providence with fate, which he presents as the false view that people’s lives are preordained and which lacks a sense of the eternal.

Qualitative leap is the term used by Kierkegaard to describe a time in everyone’s lives when they transition, as a result of their freedom of choice, from a state of innocence to a state of sin. The qualitative leap is Kierkegaard’s own basis for his understanding of the Christian doctrine of original or hereditary sin, as he argues people are not born already sinful but become sinful through free will.

Scholasticism was an intellectual movement in the Middle Ages that emphasized developing knowledge from citing, interpreting, and debating over passages from older texts. Kierkegaard explicitly states that he is rejecting the Scholastic view of hereditary sin (27).

The Smalcald Articles were a statement of religious beliefs written by Martin Luther in 1537. It is one of the expressions of belief in hereditary sin that Kierkegaard argues against.