Comparing Kierkegaard's Fear And Trembling

How does the individual assure himself that he is justified? In Soren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling, Abraham, found in a paradox between two ethical duties, is confronted with this question. He has ethical duties to be faithful to God and also to his son, Isaac. He believes that God demands him to sacrifice Isaac. But, Abraham, firmly adhering to his faith, submitted to what he believed was the will of God. By using his perspective and that of his alternative guise, Johannes de Silentio, Kierkegaard concentrates on the story of Abraham in such a way that his audience must choose between two extremes. Either Abraham is insane or he is justified in saying he will kill Isaac.

Kierkegaard believes that true faith can only be attained through a double movement of giving up rationality or logic, while at the same time believing one can understand logically. In “Fear and Trembling” Kierkegaard relates true faith to the Knight of infinite resignation and the Knight of faith; in this paper, I will examine this claim and show why Kierkegaard’s analogy is an excellent metaphor for the double movement which is required in one’s quest to attain faith and why.

What is a human person? How do human beings relate to God? Who am I? Why do I exist?

In his famous work Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard declares that “no person has a right to delude others into the belief that faith is something of no great significance, or that it is an easy matter, whereas it is the greatest and most difficult of all things.” The difficulty of faith lies in the requirement of sacrifice. The story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his beloved son, Isaac, is what Kierkegaard utilizes to demonstrate how costly faith in God is. Here is a man, who after seventy years of waiting for God’s promise of offspring finally received his son, is commanded by God to slay his promised son with no stated reason for doing so. Kierkegaard, in attempting to experience what Abraham might have experienced in those moments, cries, “Now all is lost, God demands Isaac, I shall sacrifice him, and with him all my joy – but for all that, God is love and will remain so for me.” What bold words! The cost

Since, faith is the paradox whereby the single individual’s inner ethical is higher than the outer universal ethical, therefore the single individual preforms the absolute duty to God. When the single individual carries out his absolute duty to God it can not be allowed to be interceded and thus the absolute duty cannot be understood nor communicated in the universal. If there was the possibility of faith being communicated than, this according to Kierkegaard would not be faith in its true essence, but rather simply religious trial.

Kierkegaard: I concur; it cannot be argued that faith is not central to our lives. Yet it most certainly is something inherently and undeniably passionate. It requires a leap of faith; a refusal to use any kind of rationale or reasoning as to why you should or should not have faith in such an impossibility.

Abraham was instructed by God to take his son Isaac to the land of Moriah (New American Version, Gen. 22.2). As Søren Kierkegaard states Fear and Trembling, Abraham is a Knight of Faith because embraces his absurd condition, i.e. God asking him to sacrifice the son that He just gave Abraham, and is rewarded with Isaac being spared, save the traumatic experience of his father trying to sacrifice him. Since Abraham is a Knight of Faith and transcends earthly query, one cannot judge his character or claim to understand him as by doing such would make them pitiful or arrogant in the eyes of Kierkegaard (Kierkegaard 91). Abraham, in his moment of infinite resignation and probable uncertainty, decided to accept his absurd condition and live at ease with a paradox because he believed that God would not steer him

In this essay, I will try to summarize, analyze and discuss several pages of Søren Kierkegaard’s Training in Christianity. I will try to focus on his approach to sacred history, a general Christian history and Christianity, which he discusses in this work in relation to faith in God. In other parts of this essay I will attempt also to relate these pages of his work to some key ideas of Kierkegaard’s theology and philosophy and support this with some concrete quotations from the text. In the end I will very briefly compare different philosophies of Hegel and Kierkegaard and try to relate Kierkegaard’s work to a few topics, which

One of the most unpleasant instincts as a human is fear. It can help us be more aware of our surroundings or prevent us from harming ourselves. Fear is also able to induce us to obsessed with what we worry about the most, causing isolation from reality. The remoteness leads into not being able to enjoy life, or cause major repercussions. In Poe’s stories the main characters have to face what they fear the most. The characters either choose to face their fear, or run away from it. Poe uses similes, irony, and imagery to illustrate whether the character's obsessions with fear will lead them to death or prosperity.

Abraham’s seriousness and dedication in regards to his covenant with God control tense actions and events between Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is compelled in his actions by his understanding and faith that his belief in God will reap benefits. Without hesitation, he considers doing everything that God tells him to do. Abraham’s willingness and sacrifice of Isaac show the great power that God has over Abraham. Abraham’s desire for God’s approval and blessings compel him toward grave actions without the concrete command from God. Abraham merely implies God’s intentions from the limited conversations held between Abraham, God, and the angel.

Abraham was so devoted to God that he was willing to abandon his home and move his family to a land that he did not even know existed. God told Abraham to leave, “so Abraham departed” without a second thought (Genesis 10:1). Abraham's faith in God was so strong that he did not feel a need to question God's decisions, and faced no fears in traveling to a foreign country. This decision depicts an absolute faith in God, despite the fact that His demands may seem completely unreasonable or illogical. While his blind admiration for God is not necessarily harmless to his family, it becomes so when God tells Abraham to, “[t]ake now [his] son, [his] only son, whom [he] lovest, even Isaac,... and offer him there for a burnt-offering” (Genesis 21:2). Even then, Abraham refuses to question God's authority and goes against his paternal instincts to spare his son's life. God is asking for, and rewarding, a complete abandonment of human reason and free-will in favor of actions whose purpose is unknown or unknowable. Abraham neither evolved, nor grew, and because of that he risked everything, including his family.

Nietzsche and Kierkegaard are both considered to be the top existentialists for solely different reasons, as well as being very different from each other. They have different philosophies when it comes to their thoughts on religion and it is important to see exactly how they line up in this regard. The best way to do this is to start from the beginning of each’s work, their history and how they grew into their respective roles in their fields. It is also important to note exactly what existentialism is. It is the theory of exercising the idea that the individual has the freedom and free will to develop their own path and existence in a responsible manner. It is a very interesting subject that is debated on the concepts of thinking in absolutes. The need to compare and contrast these two is a volatile understanding of this particular philosophical theory. It is also important to review their thoughts and critique them in the sense of saying what makes sense, and what does not make sense.

Kierkegaard explains that a tragic hero is one who sacrifices a loved one in order to save other people. Since this tragic hero is choosing what is best for society over what is best for themselves, this is deemed an ethical act regardless of the fact that it is a sacrifice. Kierkegaard reasons that Abraham is not a tragic hero because he does not fit the standards of benefiting society with his sacrifice. When he sacrifices his son Isaac, it is for his own sake as well as God’s. Kierkegaard explains that if the ethical is universal (based on Hegel’s explanation), then Abraham would be considered a murderer because of his underlying intention and non-existent value of the act to society.

There is no philosophical individual if there is no leap towards word of mouth. Kierkegaard exemplifies such mocking rhapsodies in his piece “Fear and Trembling”. Scattered within are multiple insults shot at individuals whom he wills deserving of it. Breezily crucifying ill-mannered beliefs, and rendering hopeless their application, Kierkegaard makes his first deprecatory stop at the gate of objective and speculative philosophy. Objective thinkers are swerved by Kierkegaard as he states “ When a cellar-dweller plays this game everyone thinks it is ridiculous...ridiculous for the greatest man in the world to do it.” (Kierkegaard 32). A conclusion can be drawn that the philosopher sees objective values as a tool with which existence can be understood an incorrect and confusing fantasy for “who is to write or complete such a system ?” (Kierkegaard 29). Declaring the objective thinkers self-equating of one to the whole, a method attainable by any man and comical in his eyes. His criticism of the aforementioned scholars doesn 't stop here as he follows with a like-minded observation of objective Christianity. He preludes that individuals seeking to understand Christianity through objective evidence, are not true believers for “ Herein lies the scholar’s exalted equanimity as well as the comedy of his parrot-like pedantry.” (Kierkegaard 34) The man who attains faith in this manner must remain mindful of the dragon at the door which waits to devour it (Kierkegaard 35). Kierkegaard

One of the most important characteristics of faith that Kallistos Ware highlights is the idea that much, if not all, of one’s relationship with God, is based off of instinctive feelings as opposed to other feasible elements. As Ware states, “Faith is not the supposition that something might be true, but the assurance that someone is there.” Faith in God, as Ware explains in this quotation, is not merely believing in God due to elements of scripture or teaching, but is instead something that occurs after personal experiences that provide a basis for the presence of God in one’s life. Additionally, these personal experiences not only need to occur, but also need to be interpreted and attributed to God. However, this can be difficult for many,