Historical/Hermeneutical Sleuthing

Tuesday, February 24 - Faith like Abraham
C. Stephen Evans, “Introduction,” in Fear and Trembling, ed. C. Stephen Evans and Sylvia Walsh, trans. Sylvia Walsh (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. vi-xxx.

Søren Kierkegaard, “Tuning Up” and “A Tribute to Abraham,” in Ibid., pp. 7-20.

This week Michael will lead our discussion of Kierkegaard's idea of "faith like Abraham." I was drawn to these readings for two reasons: the first is that the scholarly introduction sets Fear and Trembling in its historical context, and I'm a historian, so I think it's neat to think about the ubiquitously Christian society and culture in which Kierkegaard/Johannes De Silentio wrote this challenging little book. The second is that sometimes we Moderns have a hard time relating to the figures and stories in the Bible. That all happened so long ago. But I believe the Bible contains truths for every generation, through the Holy Spirit. So this extended essay is an example of one person in history trying to find truth in a story that is compelling despite its lack of details. Or is it compelling because of its lack of details? Even though Kierkegaard's method of imputing internal motives to the characters may remind us of psychoanalytic history, we've brought up a number of times this semester already how the original writer(s) may have thought their point was obvious, but that since times, they are a'changing, and we don't get the original message anymore. So what message do you get out of this story, today? In other words, we're practicing a bit of hermeneutics this week, in trying to interpret both Kierkegaard/Johannes and Genesis 22.