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Comparing Kierkegaard's Fear And Trembling

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Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling explores the story of Abraham and Isaac by discussing the extent to which one would go to exert their full commitment to a religion. He believes that religion is something beyond or more than belief and practice. The story of Abraham and Isaac is a story of faith versus ethics. God tested Abraham by commanding him to take his only son Isaac and sacrifice him on a mountain. (Gn 22:1-2) Right before he is about to kill his son, he is stopped by one of God’s angels and is told that he doesn’t have to sacrifice his son, but since he was going to obey God, God loved him and blessed him. God’s command was a test of faith and ethics to Abraham. Even though Abraham was going to kill Isaac, I believe that he is not …show more content…

Ethics is always general. Whatever happens can be either considered good or bad when ethics are applied. In Abraham’s case, there was no ethics behind his actions whatsoever. When it comes to faith vs. ethics, he simply could not comply to both, which made him subdue to faith. In an ethical perspective, it would be seen as Abraham wrongfully killing Isaac, and killing is considered murder. Abraham would be considered a murderer on an ethical standpoint. Ethics requires a different type of thinking. Faith is not something of thought and ethics is a kind of human activity. Faith is God driven while ethics are aspects that are human driven.

When it comes to religion, it isn’t something you can quantify or categorize. That is why what Abraham did was based on nothing more or less than faith and his obedience to God. When Abraham was about to kill his son, he knew it was the hardest sacrifice that could be demanded of him; but he also knew that no sacrifice was too hard when God demanded it. (Kierkegaard 1985, 55) Kierkegaard’s view is that since religion is neither an act of belief, it is therefore beyond understanding. Religion allows one to suspend the

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