19th c danish philosopher. Perhaps the first existentialist philosopher. His work explored emotions and feelings of individuals when faced with BIG choices. Christianity was the official state religion of Denmark and Kierkegaard was extremely critical of that. He had many ideas relating to individualism, personal growth and change, and the way those ideas related to faith.
He coined the idea of a ‘leap of faith’
The leap of faith is his conception of how an individual would believe in God or how a person would act in love. Faith is not a decision based on evidence that, say, certain beliefs about God are true or a certain person is worthy of love. No such evidence could ever be enough to completely justify the kind of total commitment involved in true religious faith or romantic love. Faith involves making that commitment anyway.
He coined the idea of a ‘leap of faith’
The leap of faith is his conception of how an individual would believe in God or how a person would act in love. Faith is not a decision based on evidence that, say, certain beliefs about God are true or a certain person is worthy of love. No such evidence could ever be enough to completely justify the kind of total commitment involved in true religious faith or romantic love. Faith involves making that commitment anyway.