Without authority: the lily in the field and the bird of the air: two ethical-religious essays: three discourses at the communion on fridays: an upbuilding discourse: two discourses at the communion on fridays

344 Pages·2009·16.531 MB·English

by  Hong, Edna;Hong, Howard Vincent;Kierkegaard, Søren

WITHOUT AUTHORITY
KIERKEGAARD'S WRITINGS, XVIII

WITHOUT AUTHORITY
THE LILY IN THE FIELD AND THE BIRD OF THE AIR
TWO ETHICAL-RELIGIOUS ESSAYS
THREE DISCOURSES AT THE COMMUNION ON
FRIDAYS
AN UPBUILDING DISCOURSE
TWO DISCOURSES AT THE COMMUNION
ON FRIDAYS
by S0ren Kierkegaard
Edited and Translated
with Introduction and Notes by
Howard V. Hong and
Edna H. Hong
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright © 1997 by Postscript, Inc.
Published by Princeton University Press,
41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street,
Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
All Rights Reserved
Third printing, and first paperback printing, 2009
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-691-14079-7
The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition of this book as follows
Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813­­–1855.
[Uden Myndighed. English.]
Without Authority / by Søren Kierkegaard ;
edited and translated with introduction and notes by
Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong.
p. cm. — (Kierkegaard’s writings ; 18)
Translation of: Uden Myndighed.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-691-0123­­9-3­­ (cloth)
1. Devotional literature. 2. Christian ethics.
3­­. Authority—Religious aspects—Christianity.
I. Hong, Howard Vincent, 1912– .
II. Hong, Edna Hatlestad, 1913­­– .
III. Title. IV. Series: Kierkegaard, Søren,
1813­­–1855. Works. English. 1978 ; 18.
BV483­­6.K53­­ 1997
242—dc20
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
Preparation of this volume has been made possible in part by a grant from
the Division of Research Programs of the National Endowment
for the Humanities, an independent federal agency
Printed on acid-free paper. ∞
Designed by Frank Mahood
press.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
3­­ 5 7 9 10 8 6 4
CONTENTS
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION IX
The Lily in the Field and the Bird if the Air:
Three Devotional Discourses
1
PREFACE
3
I. "Look at the Birds of the Air; Look at the Lily in the Field."
7
II. "No One Can Serve Two Masters, for He Must Either
Hate the One and Love the Other or Be Devoted to
the One and Despise the Other."
21
III. "Look at the Birds of the Air; They Sow Not and
Reap Not and Gather Not into Barns"-without Worries
about Tomorrow. "Look at the Grass in the Field,
Which Today Is."
36
Two Ethical-Religious Essays
By H. H.
47
PREFACE
49
Does a Human Being Have the Right to Let Himself Be
Put to Death for the Truth?
51
Contents
Vl
The Difference between a Genius and an Apostle
91
Three Discourses at the Communion on Fridays
109
PREFACE
111
[The High Priest]
113
[The Tax Collector]
125
[The Woman Who Was a Sinner]
135
An Upbuilding Discourse
145
PREFACE
147
The Woman Who Was a Sinner
149
Two Discourses at the Communion on Fridays
161
PREFACE
165
[But One Who Is Forgiven Little Loves Little]
167
[Love Will Hide a Multitude of Sins]
179
Contents vn
SUPPLEMENT 189
Key to References 191
Original Title Page of The Lily in the Field and
the Bird of the Air 194
Selected Entries from Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers
Pertaining to The Lily in the Field and the
Bird if the Air 197
Original Title Page of Two Ethical-Religious Essays 204
Selected Entries from Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers
Pertaining to Two Ethical-Religious Essays 207
Original Title Page of Three Discourses at the
Communion on Fridays 248
Selected Entries from Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers
Pertaining to Three Discourses at the Communion
on Fridays 251
Original Title Page of An Upbuilding Discourse 258
Selected Entries from Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers
Pertaining to An Upbuilding Discourse 261
Original Title Page of Two Discourses at the Communion
on Fridays 266
Selected Entries from Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers
Pertaining to Two Discourses at the Communion
on Fridays 269
EDITORIAL APPENDIX 279
Acknowledgments 281
Collation of the Five Publications in the Danish Editions
ofKierkegaard's Collected Works 283
Notes 289
Bibliographical Note 301
Index 303

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION
The common title of the present volume of five short works is
Kierkegaard's own disclaimer for himself and his writings: "with
out authority." He saw himself as one who "has something of a
poet in his nature, in other respects is a thinker, but-yes, how
often I have repeated this, to me so important and crucial, my
first statement about myself-withollt authority."1 The disavowal
of authority first appeared in the preface to Two Upbuilding Dis
courses (1843), the initial volume in the signed series offered
with his right hand and the companion volume to Either/Or, the
initial volume in the pseudonymous series offered with his left
hand.2 In the preface he states that the book "is called 'dis
courses,' not 'sermons,' because its author does not have author
ity to preach; 'upbuilding discourses,' not 'discourses for upbuild
ing,' because the speaker by no means claims to be a teacher. "3
Kierkegaard had intended to cease being an author (except for
perhaps some reviews of the writing of others, such as Thomas
ine Gyllembourg's Two Ages) with Concluding Unscientific Post
script to Philosophical Fragments (February 27, 1846) and to seek
1 Pap. IX B 10, p. 311. See pp. 99, 165; Supplement, pp. 216, 226-27, 235
(Pap. IX B 22, p. 321; VIII2 B 9:17; X1 A 328, p. 218). See also, for example,
For Self-Examination, p. 3, KW XXI (SV XII 295); On My Work as an Author,
in The Poit~t of View. KW XXII (SV XIII 494, 501, 505); The Poitlt of View for
My Work as an Author, in The Point of View, KWXXll (SVXIII 494, 501, 505,
563, 571, 604);JP II 1258; VI 6220, 6577 (Pap. X2 A 159; IX A 189; X2 A 375).
On the concept of authority in Kierkegaard's works, see The Book on Adler,
Historical Introduction, KW XXIV.
2 See Supplement, pp. 237-38 (Pap. X1 A 351). See also Two Upbuildit1Ji
Discourses (1844), in Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses, p. 179, KW V (SV IV 73);
Point of View, KWXXII (SVXI!I 527);JPV 5639, 5648 (Pap. IV A 75, 89). On
the two parallel lines of publication, see Eighteen Discourses, Historical Introduc
tion, pp. ix-xi.
3 Two Discourses (1843), in Eighteen Discourses, p. 5, KWV (SVIIl 11). The
phrase "its author does not have authority" is repeated in the prefaces to the
other ftve volumes included in Eighteen Discourses, pp. 53, 107, 179, 231, 295,
KWV (SVIII 271; IV 7, 73, 121; V 79).