A Fé sob o Ponto de Vista do Edificante: Uma Interpretação do Discurso sobre a Expectativa da Fé

Abstract

This article interprets the concept of faith from two distinct perspectives, following Kierkegaard's concern to avoid distorting a concept by approaching it from inadequate contexts. The perspective of authority, characteristic of the sermon, is analyzed from the perspective of Martin Luther. For the Reformer, Christian faith consists in the appropriation of Christ as a gracious gift from God, requiring the individual to firmly believe that Christ's birth is for their individual benefit ("for you he was born"). This faith performs an action in the believer, leading to salvation and, consequently, to an ethics of imitation of Christ. The philosophical/edifying perspective is approached through Kierkegaard's discourse, which, lacking the authority to preach, uses ethical categories of immanence. For Kierkegaard, faith is a good accessible to all and resides in subjectivity, serving as a criterion of radical equality. The "expectation of faith" is the victory over the multiplicity of the future (undetermined possibility), which is achieved by fixing one's gaze on the "eternal" (faith). This victory allows the individual to embrace their subjectivity in the present and achieve existential meaning. The fundamental difference lies in the content: while Luther addresses salvation through faith in Christ, Kierkegaard addresses the immanent edification of subjectivity.