Christian Discourses is one of the first books in Søren Kierkegaard's second authorship and was published on April 26, 1848. The work consists of four parts:
Parts two and four were written first and discusses the Christian life in a world of adversity and strife. Parts one and three were written last and are polemics. Part three was originally planned for another volume and included in Christian Discourses at the last minute.
God's greatness is in forgiving, in showing mercy, and in this, his greatness, he is greater than the heart that condemns itself.
— Søren Kierkegaard, Christian Discourses in Essential Kierkegaard, p.328