Sören Kierkegaard

Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing Sören Kierkegaard

Purity of Heart Is To Will One Thing is a provocative journey into why we want the things we want and what is really important. Relentlessly hounding the human will out of all its hiding places, Kierkegaard calls it home to a single-mindedness that transcends circumstance. This light-handed revision brings clarity to Kierkegaard's notoriously difficult writing with shorter sentences, clearer phrase order, clarification of out-of-use words, and improved footnotes. The book begins and ends with how man relates to the Eternal: the only unchanging reality and only absolute reference. Repentance and confession are discussed at length as Eternity's ambassadors to our experience in time. Purity of heart is defined as willing only one thing, which is first illuminated by investigating the ubiquitous consequences of its opposite, double-mindedness. Next, true purity of heart is examined, including its often high worldly cost, and why it is more than worth this cost. Also acknowledging that many people do not choose the suffering that comes to them, Kierkegaard carries the reader into a deeply moving examination of so-called useless suffering to show that the importance of the will surpasses all circumstances and achievements. Finally, the book discusses how all of this ties into our day to day lives, and asks the reader a series of pointed questions before tying back to its beginning point.