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August 3, 2007
faith is a passion
The ethical expression for what Abraham did is, that he would murder Isaac; the religious expression is, that he would sacrifice Isaac; but precisely in this contradiction consists the dread which can well make a man sleepless, and yet Abraham is not what he is without this dread.
What a tremendous paradox faith is, a paradox which is capable of transforming a murder into a holy act well-pleasing to God, a paradox which gives Isaac back to Abraham, which no thought can master, because faith begins precisely there where thinking leaves off.
Faith is a miracle, and yet no man is excluded from it; for that in which all human life is unified is passion, and faith is a passion.
Kierkegaard
Posted by amin at August 3, 2007 11:23 AM