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BARRETT, Lee C. Eros and Self-Emptying: The Intersections of Augustine and Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard as a Christian Thinker. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013. xiv + 414 pp. Paper, $48.00-In this first volume of the Kierkegaard as a Christian Thinker series, Barrett ambitiously and deftly delineates the profound sympathies between Augustine and Soren Kierkegaard, sympathies that are displayed in conviction, content, and convention. Barrett's argument is no mere attempt to reconcile these two intellectual giants superficially; his task is manifold in that he illuminates the ways in which Kierkegaard extends theological trajectories rooted in the thought of Augustine and, reciprocally, he thereby shines light on aspects of Augustine's thought that are given new life through the perspective offered by Kierkegaard. By the end, it is clear that Barrett's constructive purpose also includes the goal of nuancing and sometimes diffusing the mutual negations of what he takes to be false dualisms present in much of contemporary theology and philosophy (for example, ancient v. modem, Catholic v. Protestant, objectivity v. subjectivity, doctrine v. passion, eros v. self-emptying).
Barrett's argument is built upon a simple and effective structure. He begins Eros...