This chapter is something of a digression, although related to the larger themes of the book. Kierkegaard declares his admiration for the German Enlightenment philosopher Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781). For Kierkegaard, Lessing possessed a “religious sensibility” that allowed him to recognize the religious as a distinct category. He knew the secret of subjectivity and how to “withdraw himself” and engage in independent thinking instead of codifying his thought into a system filled with jargon and catchwords. Unfortunately, Lessing’s works have been “left behind” by the progress of systematic philosophy, which Kierkegaard likens to a speeding train (a brand-new technology at the time Kierkegaard was writing).

Kierkegaard brings Lessing into the argument as a past thinker who exemplifies a proper understanding of the religious, in contrast to many thinkers of Kierkegaard’s day. He will continue to expound Lessing’s thought in the ensuing chapter.