Recently, there has been a rich scholarly discussion on the theme of imitatio Christi in the writings of Søren Kierkegaard. 1 Joshua Cockayne has helpfully connected this theme to another important concept in Kierkegaard: contemporaneity. 2 It is clear that these two themes are closely linked in Kierkegaard's writings, but there is still a good deal of debate over what 'imitation' and 'contemporaneity' mean in these texts. In this article, I clarify the concept of contemporaneity in Kierkegaard in an effort to better understand what he thinks the imitation of Christ entails. The scholarly interpretations of contemporaneity as a concept in Kierkegaard can be placed in four categories: epistemological, mystical, psychological, and sacramental. In the epistemological interpretation, contemporaneity refers to the fact that the believer comes to know Christ not from history, but from direct encounter. 3 The mystical interpretation of contemporaneity emphasizes the direct presence of Christ within the human person. 4 Patrick Stokes's psychological interpretation of contemporaneity highlights a particular mode of thinking whereby one achieves contemporaneity by intentionally making the object of thought-in this case, Christpresent before oneself. 5 Finally, in the sacramental interpretation of contemporaneity, Christ is present in the Eucharist. 6 While all of these interpretations are in some sense correct and find support in Kierkegaard's texts, I argue they are missing a key element: Kierkegaard's philosophy of history, 7 or how he understands 'the world'. 8 In Kierkegaard's understanding, we can become contemporary with Christ because, in some sense, the world is still the same. Our world is Christ's world. How so? In short, it still reacts to the presence of the truth in its midst in the same way; namely, it persecutes it. Here is where the notion of the 'double danger,' first introduced in Works of Love, is helpful. The double danger refers to the two difficulties constitutive of the Christian life: first, one practices self-denial; then, one is persecuted for it. Kierkegaard lays this out in two lucid paragraphs in Works of Love: If the world is not as Christianity originally assumed it to be, then Christianity is essentially abolished. What Christianity calls self-denial specifically and essentially involves a double danger; otherwise the self-denial is not Christian self-denial. Therefore if anyone can demonstrate that the world or Christendom has now become essentially good, as if it were eternity, then I will also demonstrate that Christian self-denial has been made impossible and