Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions
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 First edition, title page. | |
| Author | Søren Kierkegaard |
|---|---|
| Original title | Tre Taler ved tænkte Leiligheder |
| Working title | Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions |
| Translators | David F. Swenson and Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong |
| Cover artist | Frank Mahood |
| Language | Danish |
| Subject | Christianity |
| Published | April 29, 1845 |
| Publication place | Denmark |
| Media type | Hardback |
| Pages | 114 |
| ISBN | 9780691140742 |
| Preceded by | Four Upbuilding Discourses, 1844 |
| Followed by | Stages on Life's Way |
Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions (1845) is a book written by Søren Kierkegaard.
What It Means to Seek God
Soren Aaby Kierkegaard published Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions on April 29, 1845, and Stages on Life's Way on April 30, 1845. Both books were divided into three sections: confession, marriage and death. David F. Swenson translated the book as Thoughts on Crucial Situations in Human Life in 1941, and Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong did so again in 1993 under the title, Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions.
Each of these books revolves around the anxiety of making a decision. Kierkegaard also wrote on the subject in his other writings.
In the book, he suspects that his father Michael suffered from a "sickness of the spirit" due to something he had done as a young man or while grieving the loss of his first wife Lee M. Hollander. He writes that his father was only twelve when he cursed God, and didn't have faith that he would forgive him while he was still young.[1][2][3]
Kierkegaard then warns against expressing skepticism because "the most dangerous condition is that of the one who is deceived by much knowledge,"[4] Kierkegaard again discussed this in his 1847 book, Works of Love in an effort to show how useless it is to compare sin for sin and guilt for guilt.
Kierkegaard was interested in "how" one comes to acquire knowledge. Adolph Peter Adler's experience may have influenced this writing, as he identified his audience as the "reader" and the "listener".[6] He writes, "No man can see God without purity,” and “no man can know God without becoming a sinner.” He also wrote greatly about "expectancy" and where it is found. He writes, "Sin is the common lot of the human race".[7][8]
The Decisiveness of Death
Throughout the book Kierkegaard discusses the "confession of sin before God" and the confession of love for another. Unlike his book Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses, he describes the earnest confession before God, marriage, and death as teachers of another kind that accompanies generations. Later, he uses the metaphor "lily of the field and the bird of the air" as teachers for what it means to be a human being, referring to them as "divinely appointed teachers".[9][10]
