Faith and Loneliness: Kierkegaard and Fackenheim on Abrahamic Faith in Genesis 22

Through an explication of Kierkegaard’s pseudonymous text Fear & Trembling it becomes evident that its strength lay in it portrayal of faith, specifically Abraham’s faithful obedience in Genesis 22. However, in light of the critique by Jewish philosopher and theologian Emil Fackenheim, a problematic feature of this faith comes to light, namely the radical solitude it entails in Fear & Trembling. Fackenheim articulates the Midrashic interpretation of Genesis 22 (the “Akedah”) to provide a view of faith that is not, and cannot be, isolated, but must involve a three-term relation between God, one human, and all fellow humanity. Seemingly in contrast with Kierkegaard, then, Fackenheim is clear that there can be no truly lonely figure of faith. Yet, looking beyond Kierkegaard’s pseudonymous writings to his acknowledged authorship, specifically Works of Love, the same three-term relation is evident in Kierkegaard’s own writing, standing in contrast with the lonely faith of Fear & Trembling. Through engagement with Works of Love, and in conversation with Genesis 22, it is argued that Kierkegaard’s own conception of faith, while it shares the virtues of Fear & Trembling, is more fully understood as akin to love, as both are necessarily manifest in obedience and in a three-term relation of human—God—human.Master of Arts (MA