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Kierkegaard recounts a story about a man who grew up admiring the biblical narrative of Abraham and Isaac. As a child, he marveled at Abraham’s faith, but as he grew older, he found it increasingly difficult to understand.
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He contemplates hypothetical scenarios like:
Abraham might have explained God’s command to Isaac, pretending to be a murderous atheist to divert Isaac’s anger toward himself rather than God.
Abraham might have sacrificed the ram but lost his faith afterward.
He could have gone up the mountain alone, seeking forgiveness for breaking his sacred duty as a father.
Yet, none of these possibilities captures the essence of Abraham’s experience, leaving the man unable to comprehend Abraham fully.
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To Kierkegaard, Abraham is the "father of faith," a title earned through his unwavering trust in God. When God commanded Abraham to leave his life behind and venture into the desert, he obeyed, trusting in God’s plan. Even when God promised him and Sarah a son despite their old age, Abraham believed, and his faith was rewarded with the birth of Isaac.
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However, Abraham’s faith faced its greatest test when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac. Despite the immense difficulty of this command, Abraham prepared to obey, taking a three-and-a-half-day journey to Mount Moriah. While the story often emphasizes God’s intervention to stop the sacrifice, Kierkegaard argues that Abraham’s greatness lies in his journey and willingness to break universal ethical rules to fulfill God’s will.
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Kierkegaard identifies two crucial steps to achieving hope through faith. The first is the infinite resignation, where one gives up everything, enduring immense pain. The second involves regaining what was given up in a way that seems impossible.
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Kierkegaard illustrates this with the story of a young man deeply in love with a woman he cannot marry.
A "knight of infinite resignation" would relinquish his love, accepting the pain of this sacrifice.
A "knight of faith" however, would believe that, through God, he could still be with her in this life, regaining what he had surrendered.
Kierkegaard admires those with faith but admits he lacks the courage to take the final step himself. While he knows faith exists, he struggles to understand how it is achieved and has never met a knight of faith.
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Kierkegaard explores three problems to emphasize the significance of faith.
Problema I: Is there a Teleological Suspension of the Ethical?
Problema II: Is there an Absolute Duty to God?
Problema III: Was It Ethically Defensible for Abraham to Conceal His Undertaking from Sarah, from Eliezer, and from Isaac?
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The first problem addresses whether there is ethical uncertainty from a teleological perspective. In ethics, the universal dictates that individuals conform to general rules. Faith, however, creates a paradox in which the individual transcends the universal while remaining part of it. Abraham’s actions, therefore, cannot be universally explained; they are either a demonstration of profound faith or an act of murder.
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The second problem asks if there is an absolute duty to God. Kierkegaard asserts that while ethical duties are universal, faith involves a personal, absolute connection to God. This absolute duty transcends ethical norms, as shown in Abraham’s inability to explain his actions to others. Attempting to articulate them would have exposed him to temptation. The path of faith, Kierkegaard argues, is lonely and fraught with fear, unlike the path of a tragic hero, who finds resolution and universal praise.
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The final problem examines whether it was right for Abraham to withhold God’s command from Isaac, Sarah, and Eliezer. While silence can be ethically problematic, Kierkegaard argues that Abraham’s silence was necessary, as faith is incomprehensible to others. He contrasts Abraham’s holy silence with examples of silence driven by temptation, such as a man who hides the reason for breaking off his engagement to protect his fiancée or a mythical merman who hides his love for a human to avoid causing her harm.
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Kierkegaard reflects on society’s relationship with faith. He wonders if humanity has advanced to the point of forgetting the struggles of faith or if each generation must begin anew. Faith, he argues, remains the most significant and difficult human endeavor, and while not everyone achieves it, life is filled with challenges and pursuits worth undertaking. Faith, like love, is a lifelong journey, and those who reach it embody the paradox of regaining everything they have given up.
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The highest passion of man is faith. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further.
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IDEAS CURATED BY
CURATOR'S NOTE
Full Summary of Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard
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