Fear and Trembling Essay

957 Words2 Pages

In Soren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling an ongoing theme is faith and it is shown and portrayed through the actions of Abraham. The Bible passage of Genesis 22 is an example of the large amount of faith that was shown and portrayed because of the circumstances that were placed right in the face of Abraham. At the time when the sacrifice of his only son Isaac was demanded of him, there was no questioning, hesitation, or objection to what had to be done. In Genesis 22:11-12, it states 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son. ” Now in Soren Kierkegaard’s writing he speaks about the two different knights. These two different knights are an ethical person and the religious person. The names given to the men were the names Knight of Infinite Resignation and the Knight of Faith. Soren Kierkegaard goes on to tell the story of Abraham and the sacrifice of his only son, Isaac whom God had given him under doubtful circumstances. Just at the time when Abraham was given and got the son that he had been looking and hoping for the Kierkegaard’s concept of absurd enters the story. God had given Abraham the son that he had always wanted but now was asking for him to be sacrificed. Why would God command him to give back something that he was given in such a miracle? What would Abraham be getting in return? In the eyes of Abraham, he didn’t have the right to even ask these questions his faith lead him to do what he was asked. God asking this of Abraham this was his way of making sure that the faith Abraham had in... ... middle of paper ... ...that God was going to intervene in some way. Abraham very easily could have exploded and told everybody what was going on which would have made him look foolish but instead he kept collected and cool and proceeded to do what was best; He stayed to himself all the way up to Moriah. Abraham did in fact make the transition to the Knight of Faith. In conclusion, Soren Kierkegaard displayed an amazing message through a very simple story that captured everything that he was trying to portray. The story of Abraham being willing to sacrifice his only son to show his faith to God portrays amazing insight of how life should be lived through extreme faith in God. The compare and contrast between the Knight of Infinite Resignation and the Knight of Faith was extremely evident and well represented by showing the levels of ethics that are involved throughout the story.

Show More
Related

  • Night Elie Wiesel Faith

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Eliezer witnesses the horrors of the concentration camp in Auschwitz Eliezer faith was shattered. It was not quick or immediate as it was not easy for Eliezer to question the existence of God. Initially he said that it is a trial by god to see how strong their faith is. But at a later stage Eliezer becomes disillusioned with God’s power. “A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children. Babies!

    Read More

  • Night Elie Wiesel Analysis

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    The men were losing faith in God. They expect Him to have benevolence to them. They hope that He will come and save them all, but there were no signs of that. Elie uses the device, tone to help illustrate the theme. In Night, there was a hanging of a boy. All of the men were questioning their faith in God and where He was at this time of need. “‘Where is a merciful God. Where is He?’ someone behind me was asking.”(64). There is also another quote to support this. “‘For God’s sake, where is

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Abraham In Fear And Trembling

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this exploration, Di Silenctio – the story’s protagonist – focuses on Abraham’s motivation and rationale in relation to his belief that “God could give him a new Isaac, [and] bring the sacrificial offer back to life” (Kierkegaard Loc. 948). Abraham’s faith was not “that he should be happy in the hereafter, but that he should find blessed happiness here in this world” (ibid.). Abraham’s belief in the absurd serves to illustrate Kierkegaard’s rejection of Hegelian ethics; Kierkegaard uses the story of Abraham as an example of his belief that the religious realm is somehow higher than the ethical realm of Hegelian ethics. It is this religious realm of ethics, wherein a “teleological suspension of the ethical” (Kierkegaard 1267) occurs that Di Silenctio attempts to explain. This teleological suspension of the ethical serves as both a rejection of universal ethics, and an acceptance of the fact that “as soon as the single individual wants to assert himself in his particularity, in direct opposition to the universal, he sins, and it is only by recognizing this can he again reconcile himself to the universal” (Kierkegaard 1225). Additionally, it is Abraham’s paradoxical acceptance of the absurd that allows him to fulfil his “duty to God” (Kierkegaard 403) while acting immorally (Isaac’s sacrifice amounts to murder,) and justifies his decision to not “reveal his intention to the parties

    Read More

  • Loss of Faith in Night by Elie Wiesel

    428 Words  | 1 Pages

    Eliezer loses faith in god. He struggles physically and mentally for life and no longer believes there is a god. "Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my god and my soul and turned my dreams to dust..."(pg 32). Elie worked hard to save himself and asks god many times to help him and take him out of his misery. "Why should I bless his name? The eternal, lord of the universe, the all-powerful and terrible was silent..."(pg 31). Eliezer is confused, because he does not know why the Germans would kill his face, and does not know why god could let such a thing happen. "I did not deny god's existence, but I doubted his absolute justice..."(pg 42). These conditions gave him confidence, and courage to live.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Fear And Trembling By Soren Kierkegaard

    236 Words  | 1 Pages

    Soren Kierkegaard, a German philosopher, throughout the 1800’s developed concepts defending the sovereignty of the individual against the idea that the significance of oneself is derived solely from one’s participation in the universal or community (Basic Writings of Existentialism: Gordon Marino, p. 4). Gordon continues by explaining that, much of Kierkegaard’s work contains a primary focus on what it means to have faith. Kierkegaard arrived at several conclusions regarding one’s belief in Christ, including, “…the imitation of Christ was about the furthest thing possible from the mind-set of institutionalized Christianity.” Published in 1843, “Fear and Trembling”, written by S. Kierkegaard is often described as an analysis of the over simplification

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Kierkegaard's Two/Or: A Fragment Of Life

    1890 Words  | 4 Pages

    How to live one’s life is a question faced by any human being with relatively normal cognitive functioning. Some find beauty in every day life, reveling in something as simple as the gentle shaking of leaves dancing to the whispered song of the wind, or waking up to someone they have decided to spend the rest of their lives with. Others only see the mundane and the tedious, growing bitter and resentful as a relentless existential crisis latches on to the deepest parts of their psyche, casting a grim and ominous shadow over every thought and action. This probing question of how to live is at the forefront of Soren Kierkegaard’s “Either/Or: A Fragment of Life.” The aforementioned views are, indeed, reflected in the fragmented perspectives provided by Kierkegaard’s fictional characters, “A” and “Judge Wilhelm,” who perhaps reflect Kierkegaard’s own divided views. Love and companionship are at the crux of how to live for both A and Wilhelm, despite the glaring contrast between A’s calls for a hedonistic,

    Read More

  • Kierkegaards View on Faith

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher in the mid 1800s. He is known to be the father of existentialism and was at least 70 years ahead of his time. Kierkegaard set out to attack Kant’s rational ethics and make attacks on the Christianity of our day. He poses the question, how do we understand faith? He states that faith equals the absurd. In “Fear and Trembling”, he uses the story of Abraham and his son Isaac to show an example of faith as the absurd. The story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac signifies a break in the theory that ethics and religion go hand in hand. He shows how the ethical and the religious can be completely different. “I by no means conclude that faith is something inferior but rather that it is the highest, also that it is dishonest of philosophy to give something else in its place and to disparage faith” (Fear and Trembling, 12).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Sören Kierkegaard's Apphetic Stage Of Life

    1972 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do; the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die” (Kierkegaard 95). Søren Kierkegaard was a clear supporter of expressing our own personality. He wanted us to take the time to find our true selves. Even though he acknowledged there were social systems in our society, he still believed we were our own individual human being. The only way to make sense of our life and find our individuality is to embrace our faith in God. Kierkegaard wanted human beings to be able to exercise their freedom. Human beings should not postpone their choices simply because they do not know the universal truth. As humans we cannot postpone our choices because we will never

    Read More

  • Judaism

    1576 Words  | 4 Pages

    One day, Abram had a vision. In the vision God tells Abram to leave his father’s house which is today’s Iraq, and travel to a place that God will show him. God said that if Abram who becomes Abraham obeyed this command, his descendants would become a great nation, and that he will bless thee,...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Kierkegaard's You Shall Love And Our Duty To Love God

    1652 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Kierkegaard’s two works “You Shall Love” and “Our Duty to Love the People We See,” we are introduced with a moral responsibility towards others since the start. In “You Shall Love,” we are provided with the second commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (17) whereas in the other reading we are provided with a biblical excerpt stating how we cannot claim to love God while hating our brother. It is by providing this biblical references that Kierkegaard reveals how, despite that they are commanded to us by God, we hold a moral responsibility towards our neighbor by serving, loving, and caring for them.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Sickness Unto Death And Self-Reliance

    1728 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Sickness unto Death, Kierkegaard stresses the importance of becoming a “self”. He explains the dangers of despair and of society. According to Kierkegaard, the “self ” is a synthesis of the finite and the infinite and of possibility and necessity. In order to become a “self”, a person must find and keep a balance between these states of being. The self is who a person is meant to be, no more and no less. A person should not attempt to become more than he or she is able to be, because he or she will always be chasing something that is unattainable. When a person does this, Kierkegaard says they are in infinitude’s despair. Whether people want to believe it or not, people are not equal in the eyes of the world. A person with one arm will never be as great of a guitar player as Clapton or Satriani. A blind person will not be able to play tennis as well people with vision. We should take Franklins advice that, “you can do anything you set your mind to” with a grain of salt, and realize that while we may be able t...

    Read More

  • Soren Kierkegaard's Fear And Trembling

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... In conclusion, Abraham is shown to be justified; he is not a murderer. In Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard wrote that "the future will show I was right (Kierkegaard, 91). " Well, Abraham was proven right by the result. He does not kill Isaac.

    Read More

  • Faith Constructs Life

    660 Words  | 2 Pages

    Faith is something a person must have inside them to be able to succeed. Success and failure are two completely different things, but faith is what separates the two. In the short story “A Fable with Slips of White Paper Spilling from the Pockets” by Kevin Brockmeier, the author illustrates the struggles a man must overcome in society and the obstacles he must overcome when his faith is tested to the limit. In the fable, the author uses symbols of faith, magical elements, and realistic struggles to divulge the morals and struggles of life.

    Read More

  • The Parable of the Sower

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    This parable is supposed to be a narrative for the reader to help interpret and understand the significance of faith, but as for all the parables it might be extremely heard for people today to understand the connection between the words and the actual meaning. Even with Jesus interpretation the parable might be misleading if you don’t know during what kind of circ...

    Read More

  • Existentialism: Kierkegaard and Nietzsche

    1122 Words  | 3 Pages

    Where the Absurd leads to God: Introducing Kierkegaard. (2009). In 90 Seconds to Culture. Retrieved December 4, 2011, from http://www.90secondstoculture.com/2009/04/where-the-absurd-leads-to-god-introducing-kierkegaard-culturecast-053/

    Read More

More about Fear and Trembling Essay

Open Document