Fathers and Sons: an attempt to make some loving sense of Johannes de Silentio’s Fear and Trembling

In this article, I take a closer look at the inconsistencies of Johannes de
Silentio's position in Fear and Trembling. First, the article lays out the different
inconsistencies of de Silentio's text. Secondly, I argue the case that the ultimate
tension of the Abraham narrative is the way in which it points toward the selfsacrifice - and teachings - of Christ. Thirdly, I consider Robert A. Paul's
reconstruction of Freud's analysis of the foundational myth of Moses and the
establishment of Western civilization. Whereas it is Paul's point that we need to
re-experience the guilt of mythical crimes to make sense of Christian
atonement, I suggest that we must go through Abraham's - potentially fatal -
faithful suspension of the ethical in order to understand why both God and
loving deeds must be ultimately be understood as self-sacrificial and otherconcerning.