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     With due apology for disturbing the prevailing aestivation,
I ask if any of you have had occasion to question Kierkegaarad's
Postulate in Indovelse i Christendom (Practice in Christianity)
to the effect that contemporaneity with Christ (samtidighed) is
prerequisite to Christian faith.

     denne Samtidighed er Troens Betingelse
     og naermere bestemmet er den Troen.

     This contemporaneity is the condition of faith,
     and more closely determined, it is faith.


     When I read this, I am reminded that Jesus had no lack of
contemporaries: Pilate who washed his hands, Caiphas who incited
the voters to the indictment, the scribes and the pharisees who
plotted his execution, the soldiers who carried it out, and not
least, the eleven disciples of whom St. Matthew reports that they
all "forsook him, and fled" (27:56). Were not all of these, in
Kierkegaard's words

     i Samtidighedens Situation

     in the position of contemporaneity?


     Which of these roles does Kierkegaard postulate that the
believer should assume?  And if none of them, then what does he
mean by Samtidighed?

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