ABSTRACT
Peppered liberally throughout Kierkegaard’s works are references and allusions to Scripture, a feature of his texts that few scholars thought worthy of sustained attention until recently.1 Perhaps his prolific use of Scripture has been overlooked because Kierkegaard made no claim to being an academic exegete and ignored many of the historical-critical interpretive practices that were emerging in his day as being too impersonal and thus unhelpful. His reading strategies ostensibly seem unusual compared to the scholarly methods of biblical interpretation and theological inquiry that were becoming common in northern European universities. This omission of attention to Kierkegaard’s use of Scripture has deprived readers of Kierkegaard of meaningful engagement with one of his most basic affirmations: that the meaning of Scripture becomes most clear when it is imaginatively appropriated into the life of faith. Certainly the lack of willingness among scholars to explore the centrality of Scripture in Kierkegaard’s thought has led to the overlooking of many subtleties in his use of Scripture and the way that it functions within his theological arguments and rhetorical strategies. This essay, appearing in the midst of a burgeoning interest in Kierkegaard’s scriptural habits, will explore Kierkegaard’s various uses of Scripture with a particular focus on the Old Testament.
