Abraham's 'Faith In The Exordium'

Kierkegaard claims that, "Infinite resignation is the last stage before faith, so anyone who has not made this movement does not have faith, for only in infinite resignation does an individual become conscious of his eternal validity, and only then can one speak of grasping existence by virtue of faith," (page 52). This idea is demonstrated when Abraham surrenders himself to his fate and surrenders the life of his son to God. This infinite resignation is the reason God grants Abraham his son’s life because he proves his eternal love and faith in God, by his willingness to sacrifice Isaac. Faith is put to the test when Abraham must sacrifice what he loves most to prove his love to God, while Antonius Block suffers from a similar problem of giving faith to God, which seems hopeless and invisible. Faith is put to the test when one must pursue infinite resignation in order to have faith.

The next point is surmised from the acceptance of God’s work in our lives from the very beginning, speaking to us, living in us. That still small Voice urging us to hear while giving us the ability to refuse Him. “We learn that faith is not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God.”9 When God made the heavens and the earth, He said it was good. When man sinned, that relationship was torn and we fell out of good graces with God. Faith is the avenue by which God gives us to willingly return to Him so that His fellowship with us can return. Thus, we need to continue in faith to restore our relationship with God.

One of the most central ideas found in the Bible is the concept of faith. However, faith used in Biblical terms is much broader than that. Faith is a commitment built on belief and trust. Stories of faith can be found throughout the Old Testament. Faith is not only our commitment and trust in God, and also God’s commitment to us. Youngblood defines faith as “the complete dependence on a dependable, and trustworthy God.” This paper will view the story of the fiery furnace, my step of faith in coming to Crown College, and God’s faithfulness to His people.

Abraham’s covenants with God can be found in the book of Genesis from chapters 17-25. The first covenant is Jew men who are circumcised will be care for by God. When the people of God do what they have to, they will be in God’s favor. The second covenant has the beginning of covenant of the children. God came to Abraham as three travelers with a prediction that Sarah will have a child by her husband. Both Abraham and Sarah were very old in age and Sarah was past her fertile years, so she laughed when they made this statement. Since the story of Abraham is similar to Noah’s to having two sources. One source suggests that God respond to Sarah’s laughter while another source implies that one of the travelers responded. Abraham had his son with

The lies that Abraham told to the two Pharaohs were to protect himself against their assault or worse, he had taken matters into his own hands by not having trust in God (Genesis 12 &20). The family repeats this process when Sarah wants a child for Abraham and uses her maid Hagar to produce one (Genesis 16). This occurred after Abraham was given the covenant of having a child by Sarah and their disbelief. That Sarah went along with Abraham’s lies and him with her suggestion of the use of Hagar shows how people are reluctant to have complete faith in God’s promises. The pattern of lies and deceit were ones that Isaac adopted later when Rebekah was pretending to be his sister (Genesis 26). The son does what the father does as does the daughter.

Understanding faith as an action constantly relating to oneself and to the divine while embracing the absurd is foundational to Kierkegaard’s understanding of Abraham. In Fear and Trembling, Abraham is described as the perfect knight of faith unquestionably following the callings of God, but it is more than simply unquestioning allegiance. Kierkegaard argues that Abraham’s very actions of not showing remorse or hesitation up until the last seconds of his trip up the mountain with Isaac are proof of his perfection as a knight of faith.

The book of Genesis began with the covenant with Abraham, which was a binding- relationship with God. God promised numerous descendants, land, and a relationship with him. God’s first blessing would provide Abraham with numerous descendants. In turn, God would make Abraham and his descendants a great nation. His second blessing would provide him and his family with a place to call home. His third blessing stated that Abraham would have a relationship with God. This meant that, anyone who blessed Abraham would be blessed by God. On the other hand, anyone that cursed him would be cursed in return. In order for these promises to take place, Abraham and all of his male members and descendants were circumcised to let God know that they belonged to him. The Pentatuach offered the reader hope in the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant because the promises were based solely in the obedience of Abraham and the Israelite people.

For this assignment, you will be studying the life of one of the characters from Courageous Faith. You will use a template developed from Chapter 36 of Everyday Bible Study in order to complete this character-sketch Bible study. You will seek to discover what can be learned from the character you have selected when we purposefully study his or her life using the technique of observation, interpretation, correlation, and application.

Ultimately, if we see faith as a “relationship with” what we believe, we can begin to unpack and deepen our understandings of ourselves and others, and the ways in which we are called to move in the world, and shape our surroundings.

The most important human in the book of Genesis is Abraham because of his relationship that he developed with God. God uses Abraham as a way for his people to be allotted from other nations. God and Abraham make an agreement with each other that if he leaves his nation and follow him that he will bless Abraham with a child.

In the selection from Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, explain the aesthetic man, ethical man, and knight of faith. How does this do each of these people figure into Kierkegaard’s argument for taking “a leap of faith”? Using Kierkegaard’s argument, explain whether or not the story of Abraham is describes a meaningful life.

Abraham also believe in a other religion that is Islam. Islam is a religion that only believes in one only one GOD. People who follow Islam are Muslim. They believe that the Qur'an was spoken to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel, and that it is the word of Allah. Abraham was a messenger in Islam of GOD. Muslim understand Islam to be the religion of Abraham. Islam is referring as Abraham religion. In Islam, Abraham is seen as a strict monotheist who calls his people to the worship of God alone. Islam is a word that describe to the the religion of prophet Mohammed. Islam is the act of submitting to will of God.

Having faith in God and trusting what is in the bible is a big part of our faith. Along with believing in God and Jesus we also believe in their chesed. In the first paragraph, I will talk about what chesed is and the definition of it as well as I will give and explain two stories from the bible that demonstrate God's chesed. In my second paragraph, I will state how the stories relate to God's chesed and what God teaches to his people. In my third paragraph, I will discuss how God's chesed as impacted my personal faith.

I found Kierkegaard’s account of the possible Abrahams to be interesting. I can remember learning this story in school and remember thinking, what a great sacrifice for one to give up one’s only child, because of their faith in God. In review Kierkegaard’s comparison of possible Abrahams in the Attunement along with his analysis of the Real Abraham, I believe that Kierkegaard’s indicates greatness about Abraham by first painting us a picture of what emotions that Abraham might have endure and had to overcome to carry out God’s will. For Abraham, God was the source of morality and that if he had faith in God that he would be obligated to obey God’s orders. That it was not Abraham’s moral actions that defined him but instead it was his true relationship

This notion of awareness brings us to Kierkegaard’s idea that this equality, achieved so late in the lives of the characters in the Iliad, is essential for one’s attainment of “faith”. Kierkegaard employs Abraham’s character and story in oder to explain faith in a sense. The Iliad’s tragic hero and Abraham are different for a variety of reason’s but the main thing that sets them apart is that the tragic hero, can simply be understood. Te reader can connect and empathize with him because his actions are logical, whereas Abraham’s actions are nowhere near logical. He is called the Father of faith but was ready to kill his son. In order to even have the slightest possibility of understanding Abraham’s character one needs to accept that there are times, in regards to faith, where actions that are