1813-1855
Existentialist Theologian

Family Background. The youngest of seven children, Soren Kierkegaard was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 5 May 1813. Already fifty-seven years old at the time of Soren's birth, his father was a pious, well-educated, prosperous Danish tradesman who had risen from poor, farming origins. Despite his success, he suffered from bouts of depression and was fearful that God would punish him for his youthful sins by taking all of his children before they reached maturity. Of Soren's six siblings, all but one died young. From his father, Soren inherited several important features: the wealth that would enable him to devote his life to writing, the genetic disposition toward mental illness that brought him both suffering and insight, and a strict religious faith that stressed the seriousness of sin and guilt and the importance of individual accountability.

Early Life. Kierkegaard was a gifted man with a...