Hence, I conclude that talking about faith means abandoning it. As soon as you try to convey faith, you rationalize it, and therefore betray its nature. According to Kierkegaard, the only true preacher is the one who lives faith in silence. — Astorre

This reminds me of Tolstoy’s short story “The Three Hermits”. In the story, a bishop visits an island where tales describe three old hermits who live a simple life of prayer. Upon arrival, he is surprised on how they pray. “Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us” is recited to the bishop. The bishop is shock of their lack of traditional formality of prayer and thus teaches the correct way of prayer. After feeling satisfied they know how to correctly pray, the bishop leaves the island. As the boat moves away from the island, a light is seen from the direction of the island, the crew see the hermits walking on water towards the ship begging the bishop to teach them the right way to pray for they have forgotten. The bishop humbled and in awe by what he saw said, “Your own prayer will reach the Lord, men of God. It is not for me to teach you.”

I am glad we have found some common ground. — Paine

:up:

One controversy that has played out for years on this site is how to understand the midwifery in Theaetetus against the accounts of recollection in other dialogues. Kierkegaard clearly refers to the latter in the Fragments as a fundamental condition. Does Penner deal with that difference in any way? — Paine

I don't remember him getting into that. Here is his concluding paragraph, which might shed some light:

Kierkegaard was and remains a child of the Enlightenment, if by this one means that his project is set within the context of Enlightenment concerns and that he is not a reactionary thinker who hearkens back to a pre-Enlightenment, premodern worldview. Insofar as Kierkegaard accepted that modernity posited a new situation for human thought and human being that had to be reckoned with on its own terms, he was irremediably modern. What he attempted to do, however, was to point the way forward by insisting that modern thought must not and cannot simply wipe the slate clean and start from scratch but must be careful to listen to ancient wisdom and resituate it in this new, modern context. As Climacus remarks in his “Moral” at the end of Philosophical Fragments, “To go beyond Socrates when one nevertheless says essentially the same thing as he, only not nearly so well—that, at least, is not Socratic.” — Penner, ibid.

As a matter of theology in the Protestant tradition, the role of who will be a teacher is an explosion of thoughts after questioning the apostolic continuity of the Catholic dogma. I figure that all the "disciple at the second hand" discussion in the Fragments can be ruled out as a secular conversation. It certainly is a stumbling block for those who want to separate that thought from the theological. — Paine

Yes, this is a great point. I am going to revisit that section.

Well, Hegel said as much. It is important to remember Kierkegaard is repeating that view through his view of paganism. I do not agree with them. Maybe I can say why sometime. — Paine

Okay.