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Should Catholics read Kierkegaard?

Scripture & Tradition

The short answer

Probably with profit. Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was a Danish Lutheran and a Christian critic of Christianity as he understood it. There will be disagreements with Catholic thought, but Catholics could likely find much of value — criticism from within, like Erasmus's, doesn't make a writer un-Christian.

Who he was

Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher and apparently a member of Denmark's Lutheran state church. He was a Christian critic of Christianity as he understood it, especially of the Danish church-state relationship, which he saw as a perversion of Christianity.

Worth reading

There will be disagreements with Catholic teaching, but Catholics could probably find much of value in his writings.

Criticism from within

Criticism of Christianity by thoughtful writers struggling to reconcile truth with their faith does not mean they are not Christian. A Catholic example is Erasmus, who sparred with both the Church and Luther.