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Doing all things for God's glory, acting so that it is God who acts: Kierkegaard, Edwards, and the problem of total devotion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2020

DANIEL M. JOHNSON Open the ORCID record for DANIEL M. JOHNSON [Opens in a new window]
DANIEL M. JOHNSON*
Affiliation:
English and Humanities Department, Shawnee State University, 940 Second Street, Portsmouth, OH, 45662, USA
*
e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article accomplishes two things. First, it explores and defends Kierkegaard's distinctive solution to the Problem of Total Devotion, a problem which has been helpfully identified by Robert Adams. Second, it extends that solution by advancing an interpretation of the command to do all things to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) according to which we are being commanded to intentionally make every one of our actions such that it simultaneously counts as a divine action: in other words, to act intentionally in all things such that it is God who acts through us.

Type
Original Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , March 2022 , pp. 197 - 216
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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