If he had not died after a stroke at the age of only 42, the „religious writer“ as he called himself would have turned 200 today.  Despite of his rather short life he enriched the world of philosophy and religious theory enormously.

One more reason to recall some of his thoughts that challenged not only the established protestant church of Denmark, because he contradicted their claim to possess the knowledge of what (Christian) faith is and how Christianity should be interpreted and lived, but he also questioned what is supposed to be the opposite: the – at that time wide spread – belief that knowledge could only be gained and truth can only be found through rationality.

He claimed that truth could not be found without subjectivity.

[T]he crucial thing is to find a truth which is truth for me, and to find the idea for which I am willing to live and die. Of what use would it be to me to discover a so-called objective truth, to work through the philosophical systems so that I could, if asked, make critical judgements about them, could point out the fallacies in each system; of what use would it be to me to be able to develop a theory of the state, . . .“

An approach that is worth reconsidering, as extreme and dogmatic attitudes are once again on the rise and people are split into those who claim the total ruling of either rationality or god.