Fear and Trembling/RepetitionPresented here in anew translation with a historical introduction by the translators, Fear and Trembling and Repetition are the most poetic and personal of Soren Kierkegaard's pseudonymous writings. Published in 1843 and written under the names Johannes de Silentio and Constantine Constantius, respectively, both books use as a point of departure Kierkegaard's breaking of his engagement to Regine Olsen and demonstrate his transmutation of the personal into the lyrically religious.
From this beginning Fear and Trembling becomes an exploration of the faith that transcends the ethical, as in Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac at God's command. This faith, which persists in the face of the absurd, is rewarded finally by the return of all that the faithful one is willing to sacrifice. In Repetition Kierkegaard discusses the most profound implications of the unity of personhood and of identity within change---the repetition that creats the rebirth of God in the heart of man, brings the eternal into the present, and allows the past to return its meaning.
