Comparing Kierkegaard's Fear And Trembling

What is faith? According to Merriam-Webster, there are three main definitions of faith: 1) it is an allegiance to duty or a person. 2) It is a belief and trust in and loyalty to God or the traditional doctrines of a religion 3) it is a firm belief in something for which there is no proof. Faith is an idea that is used to fill the gap that people encounter between reasons and conclusions. Like other ideas, and theories, presented in philosophy there are usually multiple opposing sides to one subject of discussion. The issue when it comes to the discussion of faith is that within it lies the question of what the reasoning for one's faith in someone or something is or if a reason is even needed to have faith at all. When confronted with this question, …show more content…
Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher who believed that faith was “to believe something irrespective of the evidence” (Lawrence 139). An introduction to Kierkegaard's philosophy of faith is produced in his work, Fear and Trembling, which discusses certain areas of radical faith and was inspired by his experiences in Copenhagen, Denmark. Those who lived there claimed to be “Christians” as they attended church on Sunday’s and read their Bibles, but continued a life of sin outside of that while maintaining the idea …show more content…
Years later He calls upon Abraham and tells him to take Isaac to the top of a mountain and sacrifice him. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar. As he prepared to slay his son the angel of God called out to him saying: “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” (Genesis 22-12). Abraham’s faith in God was so strong that he was willing to sacrifice his only son. By using this example, Kierkegaard suggests that Abraham should be held in high regards. His view on faith is that it is entirely subjective; meaning it is an individual, their interpretations, and God. What frustrates Kierkegaard about the Biblical tale of Abraham is that it does not tell of what goes through Abraham’s mind between God giving his command and Abraham obeying. It opens the question: how did he know what to do? Earlier in the tale, God says to Abraham “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore...and through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me” (22-17, 18). Reflecting on this statement