Maria Aubrey Villamor October 28, 2016

PSC42

The Christian Existentialism

Existentialism is the nature of the human condition as a key philosophical problem and

who share the view that this problem is best addressed through ontology. It emphasizes on the

idea that humans exist first and then each individual spends a lifetime changing their essence or

nature. It is also a political movement which emphasizes on freedom, choice, and individual

existence. Existentialism was flourished in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s and also defined as a

philosophy centered upon the analysis of existence and of the way humans find themselves

existing in the world. The nineteenth century philosophers, Sren Kierkegaard and Friedrich

Nietzsche, came to be seen as precursors of the movement, existentialists indeed and identified

existentialism not only a philosophical movement or view but also a cultural movement and

emphasized that it is merely much a literary phenomenon rather than philosophical.

Existentialism may also be identified as a philosophical theory which holds that it is

necessary to grasp human existence as governed by the norm of authenticity and to approach

existentialism in this categorical way may seem to conceal what is often taken to be its heart

namely its character as a gesture of protest against academic philosophy with further set of

categories. It must also be emphasized that existentialists believe that human beings can come to

know things through certain moods or feelings. Although there are several philosophical

positions all related to existential philosophy, there is still one common similarity in which

philosophers agreed, that in existentialism man exists with a purpose and that existence defines

man himself and the world in his own subjectivity, and wanders between choice, freedom, and
existential angst. In line with that, Soren Kierkegaard is the first 19th century Danish Philosopher

who used the term and idea mentioned above and reacted against systematic rational philosophy

and regarded as the Father of Existentialism. Therefore, he was the proponent of Christian

Existentialism in which its main focus is how the individual human being get along to the

fulfilment of human existence, for the existence per se is considered to be the most crucial in

every persons life. Christian Existentialism also teaches the believers or the readers upon the

idea that the leap of faith the human beings make must be one which causes individuals

surrender themselves to God rather than to insist on a continued reliance upon reason. Thus, it is

considered to be the dominance of faith over intellect and emotions and despair played an

important role in the search for the essence of human existence. According to him to become an

authentic human being, one must understand the 3 stages on lifes way namely: Aesthetic Stage;

Ethical Stage; and Religious Stage. He is a keen observer and a critical thinker particularly on

the search for objective truth as he strongly believed on the subjectivity of truth.

Christian Existentialism is vital nowadays because people must know how to obey and

follow Gods teachings regardless what other people are doing and individuals must also depend

their ultimate happiness on God and enjoy all the blessings and experience it in the way He

intends. We, the human beings, are incapable to control over ones own life and not able to

foresee what is going to happen. Therefore, we can only achieve our ultimate goal and potentials

through a passionate living in God and with that, to know God is what Christian Existentialism

is.
REFERENCES

1. Austin, M. (2013). Kierkegaard: Understanding the Christian Father of

Existentialism.CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL, 36(03), 18-21.

2. Burnham, D. (2012). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 25 October, 2016, from

http://www.iep.utm.edu/existent/

3. Stanford. (2004). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 25 October, 2016, from

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/

4. Cry. (2004). The cry towards the absurd. Retrieved 25 October, 2016, from

http://www.thecry.com/existentialism/