Fear And Trembling Summary

The Teaching Theology and Religion Journal published a peer-reviewed article in April 2014 entitled “Teaching Soren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling.” The author of the article is Jonathan Malesic (2014), an associate professor of theology at King’s College in Pennsylvania. The article discusses Professor Malesic’s attempt to teach his students about Kierkegaard’s very influential work, Fear and Trembling (Malesic, 2012).
Kierkegaard’s original work was published in 1843 and attempts to understand the anxiety present in Abraham when God called him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. There are said to be two main ideas or levels in Fear and Trembling. The first idea is that sometimes the things we see as moral or right (e.g. do not murder) have to
be suspended to give way for something higher to take place (when God commands you to do something). The second idea in the book is that the story of Abraham and Isaac correlates to Kierkegaard’s personal story of losing his fiancée. The comparison is that Soren is Abraham and his fiancée is Isaac. In this way the story becomes very personal and the way he can illustrate his point on both of these levels only serves to cement himself as one of the great Christian psychology authors (Storm, n.d,).
Professor Malesic (2014) believes that the book is one that every theology student should be aware of, as it is still debated to this day in regards to the religious beliefs of modern society.
The goal of the course is for his students to “use philosophical and theological terms to answer a framing question-“Does it make sense to believe in God?” There are six sequential classes in which students learn about Kierkegaard’s book and in each class Malesic attempts to teach critical reading skills and how to understand language where the meaning and intent are often unknown. He wants his students to be comfortable reading highly theological works of literature and to garner the appreciation he has for such. The idea of a paradox is very important in Kierkegaard’s work and Malesic spends multiple classes eliciting responses from students as to the meaning of a paradox as well as the questions that arise from the paradoxes contained in Fear and Trembling. Kierkegaard asks if it is possible for a person, in this case Abraham or the Knight of Faith, to grasp both the finite and infinite at the same time? Therein lies the central question of the text-“Does it make sense to believe in God?” In order to answer this question Malesic asks his students to dig deeper and analyze what each word (make sense, believe, and God) means to Kierkegaard at that point in his life. By understanding the meaning of these words to the author we can begin to understand the meaning of the book as a whole
(Malesic, 2014).
Malesic (2014) gives students a midterm and final exam where they are to compare Kierkegaard’s work to the work of other of his contemporaries.
When comparing such authors students can gain an in depth knowledge of that time as well as the overall state of Christianity and psychology in history. To end the class on Fear and Trembling a modern day comparison is drawn between the Knight of Faith in Kierkegaard’s book and the Knight of Faith in the 9/11 tragedy. The question is posed as to whether these terrorists were trying to grasp the finite and infinite at the same time during their suicide missions. If Abraham was willing to make a permanent sacrifice for his faith, were the terrorists doing the same for their faith? Making sense of a historical book in light of modern society is always a goal that should be emphasized in teaching and learning (Malesic,
2014).
The key points of the article that are mentioned above include 1) enabling students to think theologically and philosophically by reading Fear and Trembling, 2) encouraging the investigation of content and meaning in Kierkegaard’s writings, 3) understanding where Kierkegaard sits in relevance to the history of psychology and Christianity, and 4) understanding how the book can be relevant to the current state of modern society. These are all important points when gathering a proper understanding of Fear and Trembling. It would be very easy to read the book and miss the underlying message that Kierkegaard is trying to convey, and this is why Malesic (2014) believes it is so crucial that his students both examine and investigate the work of this very important Christian thinker.
Although the article I reviewed is relatively simple in its purpose and explanation there are still significant findings that we can apply to our lives today. The most important finding for me is that we can take the works of Kierkegaard, learn to interpret and understand them and then use those new found skills to apply his themes to the understanding of our own faith. I believe that as a Christian my faith is ever evolving and never stagnant. In order for me to grow in my own spiritual life I must continue to seek out new understanding and new ways to see my God and myself. Malesic (2014) sums it up best when he says at the end of his article “if students can insightfully apply ideas like ‘the theological suspension of the ethical’ to their own outlooks of faith, then their study of Fear and Trembling succeeded.” The role of a teacher is one that carries the heavy burden to be relevant to students and Malesic’s investigation of Kierkegaard’s work does just that. This article has changed for the better the way I look at important works of history, and for that I am very grateful.