We cordially invite you to a lecture by Dr. Bong-Choul Hwang from the United States.
The lecture is titled: Kierkegaard's Understanding of Religious Existence (based on his sermons and Fear and Trembling)
The event will begin on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 1:00 PM in Room 134 of the Institute of Philosophy.
The lecture will be held in English.
You can also participate in the lecture online. To join the meeting, simply click on the link.
We encourage you to view the event poster.
Below is a brief note about our guest along with an abstract of the lecture.
Abstract
My project examines Kierkegaard’s sermons as a decisive transformation of the Christian homiletic tradition, moving beyond both Pauline kerygma and Augustinian theological synthesis toward an existential mode of faith. While Paul proclaims salvation through the paradox of the crucified and risen Christ, and Augustine integrates this proclamation with philosophical and doctrinal reflection, Kierkegaard rearticulates faith as an inward, existential task. His sermons are not merely doctrinal expositions but address the individual directly, calling for a passionate appropriation of truth in the face of paradox, uncertainty, and personal responsibility before God.
In this context, Kierkegaard’s homiletic writings engage critically with Hegelian rationalism by resisting the reduction of faith to systematic mediation. Instead, they emphasize the necessity of the “leap of faith,” the individual’s confrontation with the paradox of the Incarnation, and the lived reality of religious existence. By interpreting faith as an existential and sermonic event rather than a universal doctrine, Kierkegaard offers a profound response to both modern rationalism and contemporary fragmentation of the self, presenting a form of preaching that speaks directly to the condition of the individual in a complex and uncertain world.
Note
Bong-Choul Hwang, Ph.D., is an independent scholar in philosophical theology and continental philosophy. His research focuses on the intersection of existential philosophy, hermeneutics, and Christian theology, with particular emphasis on Søren Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger, and the Pauline epistles.
He is the author of Heidegger’s Being and Time and Kierkegaard’s The Sickness unto Death as Hermeneutic to Paul’s Epistles (Pickwick Publications, 2025), in which he explores the interpretive relationship between existential philosophy and New Testament theology. His work also engages broader comparative perspectives, including dialogue with East Asian thought, particularly Hua-Yen Buddhism.
Dr. Hwang’s current project, The Re-articulation of Faith: A Homiletic Genealogy from Paul to Kierkegaard, examines the transformation of faith from early Christian proclamation to modern existential expression in the context of postmodern challenges. Dr. Hwang’s current project, The Re-articulation of Faith: A Homiletic Genealogy from Paul to Kierkegaard, examines the transformation of faith from early Christian proclamation to modern existential expression in the context of postmodern challenges.