50 Philosophy Classics (50 Classics) by Tom Butler-Bowdon

Author:Tom Butler-Bowdon [Butler-Bowdon, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2017-05-30T00:00:00+00:00

Believing the absurd

Resignation, Kierkegaard observes, is actually an act of the ego, making oneself seem heroic. Faith is in fact something much higher, since it means believing even after we have resigned ourselves. It means not giving up on our actions in this world.

On Mount Moriah, Abraham was willing to make the sacrifice “if that was indeed what was demanded.” Because all human rationality had been suspended, Abraham had to believe in the absurd. He effectively had to say to himself, “I don’t know the meaning of this, but I am leaving the meaning of it up to God.”

Kierkegaard describes Abraham’s leap of faith as a “movement,” one that appears to demand the giving up of everything – and yet finally delivers everything to Abraham. Not only was Isaac given back to Abraham, he was a new Isaac, even more wonderful than before, who would fulfill the prophecy of prosperity and fertility over many generations. Because he had recognized God as the source of everything first, Abraham now had absolute security of knowledge.

Though a leap of faith is tremendously difficult, by uniting us with what is universal it is the only true security.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.