In Genesis, when the Lord told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, Abraham obeyed without hesitation. What is this story saying about faith and morality? Nearly the entire account is told in just ten short verses. Søren Kierkegaard, the 19th century Danish philosopher, attempts to reconcile Faith and Philosophy using this story as a focus.

Kierkegaard elaborates on the idea of the 'knight of faith' who will try to achieve the impossible based on some absurd hope. Isaac was promised to be the first of a proliferate nation, and yet he was to be sacrificed as a boy. How could this contradiction not cause Abraham's faith to waver? His faith was so unshakeable he was nearly driven to do something evil. What if God had let him sacrifice Isaac, would the story be any different?

Ultimately, Kierkegaard's lengthy analysis of this story leads him to the conclusion that faith is the eternal contemplation of an advanced mind, that faith begins where philosophy leaves off. I didn't understand half of what he said in this book, probably because I know nothing about Hegelian philosophy. I appreciate the different perspectives he presents, but I never found any profound ideas. It is likely there were profound ideas proposed and I was not able to understand.