Abstract

This paper aims at investigating the influence of biblical concepts on Søren Kierkegaard’s theory of stages. Starting with a terminological analysis on the term ‘stage’, in which several biblical references resound, I shed light on the typological structure which lies at the core of the three spheres of existence according to Kierkegaard: the aesthetic one (“first immediacy”), the ethical one (“infinite requirement”), and the religious one (“fulfillment”). Eventually, I show that a study of Kierkegaard’s biblical background can help to understand the paradoxical transition from each stage to next one, which can be conceived as the ontological passage from not-being to being (creation/Adam), from being to not being (annihilating power of the law/Moses), and from not being to being again (new creation/Christ).