Session 5: Fear and Trembling
鈥溾�hen I have to think about Abraham I am virtually annihilated. I am all the time aware of that monstrous paradox that is the content of Abraham鈥檚 life, I am constantly repulsed鈥� Yet I by no means think that faith is therefore something inferior, on the contrary that it is the highest, at the same time believing it dishonest of philosophy to offer something else instead and to slight faith.鈥�
S酶ren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling
We would like to invite you to the next meeting of the Theology Reading Group, which will take place on
Monday, 12th March, at 5pm
***NEW VENUE***
in seminar room 1 in the Wolfson Research Exchange
***NEW VENUE***
(located on the Floor 3 Extension of the Library).
The session will revolve around S酶ren Kierkegaard鈥檚 Fear and Trembling, where he discusses the nature of faith, focusing on the figure of Abraham, who 鈥渂elieved on the strength of the absurd,鈥� 鈥渂elieved the ridiculous.鈥�
Referring back to Chapter 22 in the Book of Genesis and Surah 37 in the Qur鈥檃n, which depict Abraham鈥檚 obedience to the voice of God and the sacrifice of his beloved son 鈥� a scene which Kierkegaard describes as full of 鈥渁nguish that can make one sleepless鈥� 鈥� we will focus on the disturbing questions he poses: Are we at all capable of understanding Abraham and the story of his son鈥檚 sacrifice? Can we possibly conceive of his radical movement of faith? Must faith necessarily be thought of as an act of resignation and renunciation? Can it fundamentally oppose ethics? Is it feasible to analyse and explain it within a framework of systemic philosophy?
The set texts for the session are:
- S酶ren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, Penguin Classics (pp. 41-48, 57-95)
- Bible, Genesis 22:1-19
- Qur鈥檃n, Surah 37:102-112
You can download the texts from our section.
The session will be chaired by Joanna Rzepa.