Sunday, April 20, 2008

The Knight of Faith

Søren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling presents us with a powerful concept, one with which some may be altogether unfamiliar. The concept is that of the complete subjectivity of personal spiritual experiences. For all persons looking at the experience of the Knight of Faith from the outside, the spiritual is absurd and irrational. For the person looking from the inside out, the spiritual experience, while not to be articulated exactly in words, nevertheless knows God. 

This is the miracle of a witness. To the atheist, their is no proof, no sign. To the theist with a witness of God, there is no need of proof, for the proof is inherent in the experience. It is as if one has never not known God. The sanctity of the experience is completely hidden from the unbeliever and totally reassuring for the believer. 

5 comments:

Unknown said...

similar to the gift of the believing blood the believer can't understand doubt, it is utterly incomprehensible. There is no other option but to believe. It makes it impossible for such a person to understand atheism or going against previous beliefs. The only explanation is self-disillusionment (which probably isn't a word)and selfishness.

Katy said...

Hey Mr. "C.S.Lewis"?. Cool thoughts! Hope you are doing well.

Ben Clarke said...

It's fun to read a blog by someone as well read (and bright)--I haven't read a post of Kierkegaard for a while.
I'm not sure my reading of F&T is quite like yours. For example, despite the beauty of your articulation, you must remember that not all atheists begin as atheists. As I read Kierkegaard, the decision for Christian faith is CHOOSING to accept the absurd/irrational paradox of faith. That is something entirely different: as Neusner articulates it, religious belief is both a choice and an 'act of imagination.' And the question for Kierkegaard and others embracing the absurd as religious expression is simple: finding a reason that other's irrational postulations, coupled with similar spiritual witnesses, are prioritized over one's own, since both lack any evidence.
I'm liking your blog, buddy.

Moudi said...

You're argument brings forth very good insight, but your take on spirituality puzzles me.

"For all persons looking at the experience of the Knight of Faith from the outside, the spiritual is absurd and irrational. For the person looking from the inside out, the spiritual experience, while not to be articulated exactly in words, nevertheless knows God."

This clearly states that atheists do not know the spiritual experience, within the limits of a god you ascend to. What is to say that I, or any other being whether atheist or theist, does not know what the meaning of spirituality is. I may not believe in the same god you believe in, but I do believe in a god. I am spiritual in the realm of ethical and moral responsibilities.

I propose that you reconstruct your argument to aim at the belief/non-belief in god, leaving spirituality at a state of its own.

Mark Rasmuson said...

Moudi - good observation and good suggestion. I agree with you, to be honest. I think my writing was sloppy - the experience I mentioned briefly is a specific experience with a specific God - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For Latter-day Saints, this God, Jehovah, is Jesus Christ. Therefore, though a spiritual witness of Christ cannot be adequately articulated with words, the witness is nonetheless real and distinct. From the perspective of one without the witness, to say, "I know," seems absurd and irrational. From the perspective of the witness, however, the experience is sure.

The Other may be experienced in different ways, but if you're familiar with Kierkegaard, he is referring specifically to Jesus Christ.

To answer Ben's comment, I would say that the absurdity of the experience lies partially in the inability of the faithful to articulate what is manifest. But, of course, Ben's reading is the traditional reading, for sure. I just like to think that Kierkegaard, in his better moments, was on to something greater - something more distinct, powerful, and sustaining.