Choosing a way of life › A religious ending without a simple ladder

The book ends with a sermon the judge forwards from a priest who is his friend. Its theme is the edifying thought that, against God, we are always in the wrong. Another voice therefore enters after the main exchange between A and B. The ending should not be omitted when assessing the range of the book.

The sermon develops a relation of love to God. It distinguishes a personally appropriated conviction from a conclusion reached only through detached reflection. Its movement cannot be reduced to advice about becoming more efficient at keeping promises. The ending introduces a religious demand that changes the setting in which self-assessment takes place.

That does not make Either/Or a straightforward textbook with three completed stages. The judge's letters already contain religious claims. The concluding voice cannot simply be pasted onto them as a separate compartment. The text asks readers to interpret their relationship.

The sermon also raises difficult questions of its own. Calling oneself always wrong before God could be confused with accepting every human accusation. But those are different propositions. A claim about the divine relation does not establish that another person's exercise of power is justified.