Shabbat Reading: Søren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling

#whatireadovershabbat Søren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling, translated by Bruce Kirmmse (1843; Liveright, 2021)

Who, really, understands the Binding of Isaac, when you come down to it? At God’s command, Abraham goes to sacrifice his beloved son; if he knows why, we are never told. Writing under the pseudonym Johannes de silentio, Kierkegaard, in Fear and Trembling, refused to accept pious defenses or rationalist criticism of Abraham’s action, and gave us, as a result, this masterpiece of modern philosophy. He declares that what Abraham did he did as a knight of faith, dedicated to the paradox of faith. And this—the paradox of faith—defies explanation. To weigh that claim, you must read this strange, uncompromising essay yourself.