"A masterful new translation of one of Kierkegaard's most engaging worksIn the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his followers to let go of earthly concerns by considering the lilies of the field and the birds of the air. Soren Kierkegaard's short masterpiece on this famous gospel passage draws out its vital lessons for readers in a rapidly modernizing and secularizing world. Trenchant, brilliant, and written in stunningly lucid prose, The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air (1849) is one of Kierkegaard's most important books. Presented here in a fresh new translation with an informative introduction, this profound yet accessible work serves as an ideal entree to an essential modern thinker.
The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air reveals a less familiar but deeply appealing side of the father of existentialism-unshorn of his complexity and subtlety, yet supremely approachable. As Kierkegaard later wrote of the book, ""Without fighting with anybody and without speaking about myself, I said much of what needs to be said, but movingly, mildly, upliftingly.""This masterful edition introduces one of Kierkegaard's most engaging and inspiring works to a new generation of readers."
By:
Søren Kierkegaard
Introduction by:
Bruce H. Kirmmse
Translated by:
Bruce H. Kirmmse
Imprint: Princeton University Pres
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 191mm,
Width: 114mm,
Weight: 113g
ISBN: 9780691180830
ISBN 10: 0691180830
Pages: 128
Publication Date: 12 June 2018
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
ELT Advanced
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction: Letting Nature Point beyond Nature, Bruce H. Kirmmse viiThe Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air by Soren Kierkegaard 1Preface 3Prayer 5The Gospel for the 15th Sunday after Trinity Sunday 7I. Look at the birds of the air; consider the lily of the field. 9II. No one can serve two masters, for he must either hate the one and love the other, or hold fast to one and despise the other. 39III. Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns -unconcerned about tomorrow. Consider the grass of the field-which today is. 71
Bruce H. Kirmmse is one of the world's leading Kierkegaard translators and scholars. He is the author of Kierkegaard in Golden Age Denmark, the editor of Encounters with Kierkegaard (Princeton), and the general editor of Princeton's eleven-volume edition of Kierkegaard's Journals and Notebooks(princeton).
Reviews for The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air: Three Godly Discourses
A gorgeous stand-alone edition. . . . For a reader familiar with Kierkegaard's philosophical work, what's most striking about Three Godly Discourses is its gentle, graceful simplicity. ---Will Rees, Times Literary Supplement Kirmmse offers a new translation of this religious work and a concise introduction. In the original preface, Kierkegaard expresses the hope that the lily and the bird would serve as a means for humans to learn silence, obedience, and joy. Those three concepts loom large in some of Kierkegaard's writings, and they receive lucid treatment here. * Choice * Kirmmse's new translation of Kierkegaard's homiletical reflections on Mat thew 6:24-34 captures the sermons' beauty and gravitas. * The Christian Century *
