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Essay / The Nature of the Christian Faith in Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling
With many Christians and people following God's teachings, the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 was probably one of the most popular parts of the Bible. While the original story is one of faith and sacrifice, Kierkegaard's four divergent versions emphasize the complexity of the event which initially seemed simple and straightforward. Kierkegaard raised difficult questions about the nature and value of the Christian faith. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In the original story, God tested Abraham's faith by telling him to kill his only son, his most beloved son, on one of the mountains of Moriah. Abraham only questioned his faith and, indeed, he obeyed God and attempted to kill Isaac; but the angel of God came at the right time to arrest Abraham and gave him a ram instead of Isaac. Because God had seen Abraham's fear and faithfulness, He blessed Abraham with many descendants. At the beginning of Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard tells the story of Genesis 22 in four different ways, focusing on the inner thoughts of the characters involved. In the first story, Kierkegaard describes how Sarah watched her husband and son go out the window until "she could see them no more." The way Kierkegaard used his words highlights the depressed and gloomy feeling of a mother who knew that her only son was about to be killed by her husband, the father of her son. He further describes how Abraham behaved during the journey, that he "did not say a word" and with his "fatherly" expression. In this first version, Abraham decided to act as if he didn't love his son at all and that all he needed was God. The truth was that Abraham would rather Isaac lose his trust in his father than Isaac lose his faith in God. Through every little detail, from Sarah's emotional feelings to Abraham's bleeding soul and Isaac's anguished cry, the story - through Kierkegaard's words - becomes more realistic and painful as it touches deeply my heart and my soul. The second story is shorter than the first and focuses more on the actions of the characters. In this story, Abraham decided not to kill Isaac and sacrificed the ram God had designated instead. However, as Isaac continued to live and grow, Abraham saw no joy in his life, because he had disobeyed God. In the third story, Abraham was confused about his actions and his faith. He could not understand that it was a sin that he was willing to sacrifice his son because God had commanded him to do so. But it was a sin because he loved Isaac so much and forgot the duty of a father. Abraham did not know which sin was more terrible, for both caused him the same unforgiving consequence. The fourth story focuses more on Isaac than Abraham. In this story, Abraham did not kill Isaac. He shook. Then they returned in joy to Sarah, but Isaac lost his faith because he saw his father disobeying God. In Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard emphasizes that Abraham's decision is morally repugnant and rationally unintelligible. However, it also shows that if nothing is superior to human reasoning, then belief in God becomes useless. Kierkegaard's writings refer to people who believed in the authority and goodness of God. By emphasizing the difficulty of understanding Abraham's response to the divine command, he emphasizes the difficulty of faith itself. The third story asks each of us a question: “If you were Abraham, what would you do?” " He.