Eric;
What are the ethics that you see as being suspended in the development of God's purposes in Abraham's life? I don't understand the quote 'the story of Abraham contains a teleological suspension of the ethical.' Maybe a
teleological suspension of that which we would expect to see occur in nature, but is that an ethical issue? I'm just missing your point. Steve K.
Steve sent me the above email after reading one of my quotes. My quote was in response to Derek's quote which states, "Is there such a thing as a teleological suspension of the ethical?" My response quote stated, "The story of Abraham contains a teleological suspension of the ethical."
Kierkegaard, Derek's favorite philospher, stated, "The story of Abraham contains a teleological suspension of the ethical."1 Some people believe that God would violate his very nature by commanding Abraham to take his son Isaac and sacrifice him as a burnt offering because God was commanding Abrahaom to murder his son. Would God tell Abraham to violate the Ten Commandments or Decalogue for you silly smart people. Obviously, the formal law is not put together yet, but God's character never changes. Since it is safe to assume that that God's character is the bound up in the Law's nature, we have a problem. How can God tell Abraham to premeditate a murder, when God forbids this. Kiedegaard struggled with this idea and came to the conclusion that there must have been a suspension of the ethical law in order to fulfill God's divine purpose in a way in which Abraham was not aware.
Hope that helps a little.
eric |
