Purity of Heart: Is to Will One Thing

In a world benighted by multi-tasking and information overload, Kierkegaard shows us the importance of single-mindedness. Christ was single-minded; his unswerving desire to do only the will of God the Father defined his life completely. If we wish to follow Jesus faithfully - if we wish to be holy - we must understand the necessity of willing only one thing. To will only one thing, which one thing is the good, is to be pure of heart. Kierkegaard shows that to will anything other than the good ( i.e., the very will of God ) is actually to will more than one thing, and to be double-minded. One of Kierkegaard's most convincing and accessible arguments in the philosophy of religion.

In an age of popular books on self improvement that concentrate on listing habits and prescribing do's and dont's, here is a work that brings matters upstream into the inner landscape of human motivation and will. The existentialist Soren Kierkegaard has left us a challenging, provoking and truthful examination of the heart and mind, from which ensue all of the popular habits and prescriptions. What is double mindedness? How is it formed, and what does it look like? What is the ultimate goal and purpose of the countless habits and traits we read about? How are our deepest motivations and ambitions conflicted, and what duplicitous damage is caused by those inner conflicts? Thousands of books are transactional; this one is transformational. Though not an easy read, Purity of Heart draws the complexity of modern behavioral science into its single common denominator. This book can help to renew one's mind and change one's outlook on life.

Coming from a reformed Christian perspective with very little exposure to Kierkegaard, I was sometimes puzzled by this book but mostly challenged in my spiritual life, relentlessly so. This book made Puritan introspection seem comparatively shallow. If you are looking for extreme depth, you've got it here. He is exploring the idea of double-mindedness found in book of James to prepare the Christian for confession. This work asks questions you may have never thought to ask. Of course he is trying to get the individual to spiritually be laid bare before God in his double-mindedness. Is the work without hope since it should drive the honest person to despair in his own heart's purity? I don't believe the book is without hope. Christ is in there a few times in direct reference, but mostly assumed or implied..in the gaping hole created by our ties to the temporal and lack of eternal-mindedness and inability to truly will one thing. As spiritual shock-therapy, it works for me. It is my second read, the first being in college nearly 20 years ago. Had a similar effect then, but it is still the only Kierkegaard book I've ever read.

I'm dumbfounded that "rob" compared Kierkegaard with Woody Allen. Purity of Heart is all about the purpose and MEANING of existence. It's about reconciliation to the eternal. Woody Allen has no knowledge of the eternal. He's a silly little pundit using philosophy as a means to distract him from utter boredom and complacency. In his films he may drop references and allude to Sartre, Heidegger, Camu and the rest of the existentialists--but that's all he does. He's a geek for philosophy. He doesn't expound upon what they have said. He doesn't challenge them. He just collects their ideas and spreads them out on a table to gaze at. Kierkegaard is much different.

Kierkegaard's Purity of Heart is one of his most accessible works. Like in Sickness Unto Death, Purity of Heart cuts to the heart. Through irony, dialogue, and parable, Soren slices through the masks and fascades we construct that delude us into thinking that all is well with our soul. With the skill and precision of a surgeon's hand, Kierkegaard opens up the true condition of our motivations in life and faith. Kierkegaard is not afraid to stare in the face the dark side of our humanity. In Purity of Heart we see that only through this brutal honesty can we become our true selves and find healing. Kierkegaard boldly asserts that only by joining with providence and the Great Physician's hand can we "will one thing"--the good. The good is all that is true, eternal, and authentic. The good is all that comes from God. Scant writers this day in age know the human condition more intimately than the great Danish theologian/philosopher. Come and join Kierkegaard and take the leap of faith!