Fear and Trembling (Penguin Great Ideas)

This is definitely a book that needs to be read when one is reading Hegel and his Phenomenology of the mind; these two books go hand in hand, obviously one is a reaction to the other. Unlike John Locke, Kierkegaard specifically mentions Hegel. This book has brought new questions forth, questions I have answers that I did now know I had afore. After all, what is faith, except something for those who refuse to believe.

- auf wiedersehen.
herr enrique

Kierkegaard is an existential Christan who understands that, in the end, we all stand naked before God. We confront the call of the divine alone, and must follow alone. To follow a creed is to put that creed above the divine conversation. To follow the direct call of the divine may take us above and beyond the creed. This is a great read for anyone looking for the bedrock of what it means to be a spiritual seeker.

Every word curls my mind with fear, and trembles my soul, my heart open to its agony, its truth, its depression, its wisdom. I'm frozen in revelation to the very beliefs that bind me.

it is a very hard book, one of the hardest book I treaded through. When I read The Republic in its entirety I thought modern philosophical works are easier. Well, I was wrong. But at the same time the book is very provacative and innovative, making one exploring what faith is and its relation to ethics. Interesting read.

sit back, relax and try not to think to hard. i know very contradictory to this crazy existentialism but i found it necessary to grasp many of the concepts.

Very, very difficult to understand, but I find the ideas fascinating. It might be better to just read a commentary - the ideas are, after all, more important than Kierkegaard's repetitive and difficult prose.

To this day Kierkegaard's thinking on Christian praxis affects my thinking and faith. What a wonderful thing if most Christians today would only find out about this thinker (most of whom are clueless) and learn to be true Christians....

Hey... Is there anybody to deny the craziness? As Kierkegaard himself said: This book will be too confusing! What the hell? I would like things to put between me and wisdom anyway!!!!

K's treatise on the nature of faith. Mandatory reading for any intellectual.

Very good thoughts on the philosophy of faith and where it fits in the hierarchy of ethics and universality. Many of the discussions and issues it raises are not even the ones that Kierkegaard probably intended us to focus on, but his book brought up a lot of interesting side problemata.

Unfortunately, the second half of Fear and Trembling was kind of dull to me. His discussion about whether or not Abraham's hiding his intention to kill isaac from Sarah was ethically defensible seemed like it was a bit of a reiteration of another chapter and had some holes in their arguments.

Either way, I would quite happily re-read the first half of the book and let it sink in more than it got a chance to the first time. For a philosopher, Kierkegaard is a very enjoyable read.