Self-deception, confusion, and salvation in 'Fear and Trembling' with 'Works of Love' (Kierkegaard's soteriological and ethical visions of community)

Reading "Fear and Trembling" with "Works of Love" heightens Kierkegaard's s ummons to acknowledge the ambiguity of our aims and the treachery of our lo ve. "Works of Love" underscores that there is a "neighbor" in "Fear and Tre mbling" whose justified or damnable banishment occasions Kierkegaard's atte mpt to "track down" the "illusions" of love. Through de Silentio, Kierkegaa rd prompts the reader to consider whether the promise has been broken due t o radical obedience, lack of faith, dearth of imagination, or a gnarled com bination of motives. We are to recognize our kinship with the duplicitous m erman and discover that we must, like Tobit's Sarah, receive an extravagant gift. "Fear and Trembling" is thus a text with soteriological import, but with ethical import as well. Convicted by and indebted to God, we are to fi nd in Abraham's act a premonitory paradigm for every engagement.