Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 12, 1995                   TAG: 9502100127
SECTION: BOOK                    PAGE: F6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY HAROLD CRICKENBERGER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

KIERKEGAARD ON PRAYERS

\ "Soren Kierkegaard" is a wide-ranging collection of prayers that have never before been published in the English language. Translated by Lois Bowers, the prayers offer considerable insight into the deep spiritual reflections of this controversial - and sometimes irascible - man of faith.

For those who "know of" Kierkegaard but have not studied his theology and philosophy, Dr. George Bowers, of Roanoke College and St. Mark's Lutheran Church, has included a biographical look into the Danish theologian's life. Born to wealth, he never worked and he held in disdain those worldly pleasures available to him. Kierkegaard was especially critical of the State Church in Denmark (Lutheran) and the fact that its clergy were civil servants paid well by the State.

As noted in the Foreword by Dr. Lawrence Folkemer, Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology at the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary, "the Bowers' book is well-conceived and balanced: First, just enough of an introduction to provide a helpful setting for an entrance into Kierkegaard's prayers and fragments of his theological reflection on prayer; then, a series of contemporary and penetrating prayers in an existential mode which no doubt would have delighted immensely the Danish theologian."

This brief (143 page) book on "The Mystique of Prayer and Pray-er" seems destined to fill the shelves of college and seminary libraries and to become elective or required reading by students of philosophy and religion.

Harold Crickenberger is a management labor relations consultant in Roanoke.