Abraham and the Paradox of Faith

This statement on faith made by Sren Kierkegaard expresses a difficult concept: the paradoxical nature of faith. Kierkegaard believed that people should not get caught up in the big ethical question of performance; rather, they should concentrate solely on their duty to God. This was the only way their actions could be called right. For Kierkegaard, Abraham was the model of faith, and, through an examination of the biblical account of Abraham, Kierkegaard hoped to demonstrate the power and paradox of faith. Abraham was honored by many, but the surprise is that he arrived at such glory by following the "absurd." He excelled, according to Kierkegaard, in both "absolute" and "universal" respects by ignoring the ethical and concentrating on his duty to God. Kierkegaard believed that Abraham's passionate response to the call of God, despite trying circumstances, is proof of his greatness.

An examination of what Kierkegaard meant when he used the words "absurd," "universal" and "absolute" is necessary so that his meaning is clear. "Absurd" refers to the apparent discrepancy between a person's actions and ends. "Universal" and "absolute" appear in t

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es had Abraham chosen to follow the ethical must be considered. Ethics tell Abraham that to commit murder is wrong and that to willingly kill his son is despicable. When he was told by the Lord to do so, Abraham could have decided to act according to what was right ethically. In doing so, he would have ignored the command to kill from the Lord. He may have written off his experience as a hallucination or a fluke. In either case, Isaac would also have been spared, and Abraham would have continued to love Isaac and follow a system of ethics. He would be, by all ethical standards, a good man. Yet, according to Kierkegaard, he would not be a man of faith: If Abraham had doubted as he stood there on Mount Moriah, if irresolute he had looked around, if he had happened to spot the ram before drawing the knife, if God had allowed him to sacrifice it instead of Isaac--then he would have gone home, everything would have been the same, he would have had Sarah, he would have kept Isaac, and yet how changed! For his return would have been a flight, his deliverance an accident, his reward disgrace, his future perhaps perdition. Then he would have witnessed neither to his faith nor to God's grace (112). In refusing to accept the
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Approximate Word count = 2646
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)