Kierkegaard, Truth and the Self

Matthew Jacoby

Abstract. This paper focuses on Soren Kierkegaard as a religious thinker and examines his understanding of what it means for a person to ‘speak the truth’. How Kierkegaard develops his argument is as important as the argument itself since it exemplifies the very point he wants to make. So attention will be given to both the form and content of Kierkegaard’s discussion on truth and the self in order that we might gain a deeper appreciation of what is possibly Kierkegaard’s most important contribution to Christian thought.

Matthew Jacoby is the teaching pastor of a large Baptist church in Geelong (Barrabool Hills Baptist Church). He has undergraduate degrees in Theology and Philosophy, and a doctoral degree from the University of Melbourne. His doctoral thesis focused on Kierkegaard’s view of Christian doctrine and placed Kierkegaard’s views in dialogue with post-liberal theology using conceptual tools from speech-act theory to articulate Kierkegaard’s views on the relationship between truth and meaning. Matthew has published academic articles on Kierkegaard and is also the author of a book on the spirituality of the biblical psalms called Deeper Places (Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan). He is also the author of a devotional Bible reading guide with over 6,000 subscribers through Australia and New Zealand. Matthew is the leading member of a psalms-project ensemble called ‘Sons of Korah’ that tours internationally and has sold around a quarter of a million albums worldwide. Matthew is married with three young children.