“Doubt is cunning and scheming, not at all noisy and defiant, as it certainly is described at times. It is inconspicuous and subtle, not brazen and presumptuous, and the more inconspicuous it is, the more dangerous it is. It does not deny that these words [by the author of the Epistle of James] are beautiful, that they are comforting; if it did this, the heart would rebel against it. It merely says that the words are difficult, almost inscrutable.”
It has been observed that Kierkegaard was doing depth psychology long before Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) started his clinical practice in 1886. Indeed, in pseudonymous works such as The Concept of Anxiety (1844) and The Sickness unto Death (1849), Kierkegaard is quite consciously developing a theory of the human psyche and, in turn, exploring various inner states and trials. A number of his “signed” upbuilding discourses engage in the same kind of work, albeit with the intent of getting the reader to reflect on her own ethico-religious development. The passage cited above serves as a case in point. It is a meditation on James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” According to Kierkegaard, people fail to receive such wisdom properly. They hear the words but do not listen—and not because they revile such teaching. On the contrary, the culprit is “doubt” (Tvivl), a word that also lies at the root of the Danish term for “despair” (Fortvivlelse). Here doubt is identified as a shrewd vice, which inhibits decisiveness precisely entertaining various possibilities and questions. In this way, apostolic words of comfort are transformed into an enigmatic saying. What could have provided spiritual nourishment instead becomes fodder for commentaries, seminars, and (proleptically) Twitter debates.