To Begin With Abraham

To Begin With Abraham—an Understanding of Kierkegaard's Philosophy tries to explain and discuss a Danish philosopher Kierkegaard's philosophy in theory , mainly revolving around the story of Abraham sacrificing his son for God ,which was cited in Fear and Trembling by Kierkegaard.In Fear and Trembling , Kierkegaard quoted this story to indicate the suspension of religion to ethics , including some problems of the single individual , the absurdity of faith , the insideness of faith and so on'. God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac , his loved son . And lonely,silently and hopelessly did Abraham have to come face to face with God , fearing and trembling .He made his own important choice—to kill his son for sacrifice . However , at the last moment , God used the selected ram as Isaac . So , Abraham passed god's test, and moreover won his dear son . He became a lonely faith knight finally.The conception of the single individual is the very heart and beginning of Kierkegaard's philosophy. Also, it is the effective weapon which he used against popular Hegelism then. It isn't an epistemological rational individual, but an irrational existential one, who is always self—contradicting, acting, experiencing and chosing ,with passion and strong—will. Such an individual always has many irrational emotional experiences, such as sufferings, anxiety, fear, hesitation, desire, passion , emptiness and despair as well. And ,these experiences are the real conditions of life and show the essence of life ; such an individual always desires to transcend the worldly aesthetical stage and ethical one , and go forward to God. Only in the absolute relation between the individual and God can eternal happiness exist . To the single individual, faith is the only way of extrication. In fact, Abraham depended on the absolute faith in God so as not to lose Isaac, but to save him and even the whole family .But faith is also absurd. To ethics , it's absurd to sacrifice his own son for God , because as a father , he loved Isaac more than himself. However , absurdly did Abraham have to take action . It's the "absurdity" that makes the individual transcend the universality , farfrom ethics ; in addition , it's by virtue of the "absurdity" that Abraham went through-the test and won Isaac . ..........Abraham isn't a loved tragic hero—Agamemnon , but a lonely faith knight . In the face of God's request , he had to suspend ethical requirements and resigned his loved son . what's more , he couldn't express himself for the reason that he only depended on faith and passion , which couldn't be proved or expressed . Of course , people couldn't understand him . He was in the absolute loneliness and had an absolute relation with the absolute (God). Only this kind of man could go to God indeed , and become a true Christian . Therefore , the religious life is the highest stage , and the religious man is the highest being.Kierkegaard also says : in the absurdity of faith , the existence is open , and the truth is enlighted . When the single individual confronts God , he would display the existential individual's possibilites fully . At that time , he is filled with passion and strength , and grasps the existence . The empty enjoyment of the aesthetical stage and the peace of the ethical stage are resigned by the religious individual.. Faith opens the road to God that has everything in the world ,opens the road to the origins of possibility , and opens the road where there is no limit to possibility and impossibility for him . In his choice, project and determination ,an inside change is finished . And spirit is returned to itself . Just because of resignation does he have a true possession . As we know , there is no loss in eternity . The safe door of Heaven is opening only to these faithful reflecting single individuals , not to all . The serious conditions of people confronting God makes it be the essence of the Christian faith to practice Christian's teachings .In Kierkegaard's opinion , the most important character of faith is insideness, just individuality and subjectivity. As a true religious existence, something the most important is to keep the insideness . Abraham, as a lonely faith knight, obeyed God absolutely and transcended the ethical universality , ration and logic . Well his life was hidden in the insideness and couldn't be expressed .That all is rooted in the faith individual's insideness and subjectivity , opposite to the commonplace objective system.Faith is the contradiction between infinite passion of the insideness and the objective undefinitivity. We should disclose something impossible and self—contradictional, and...