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Harold Bloom

Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine


p. 10
Prelude: eight opening refletions
1. The New !ovenant "Testament# is throughout mar$ed %& %elatedness in regard
to the Tana$h. But the partial e'eptions are the logia( or sa&ings( and para%les
of Jesus. Their enigmatis "to oin that# are sometimes unpreedented. Hamlet(
)ier$egaard( )af$a are the great ironists in the wa$e of Jesus. *ll +estern iron&
is a repetition of Jesus, enigmas - riddles( in amalgam with the ironies of
.orates.
!h. /: 0The Dar$ .pea$ing of Jesus1 p. 23
Jesus onfronts us( non%elievers and %elievers ali$e( with an arra& of enigmas. Yetr(
how ould it %e otherwise4 5slam aepts 6uhammad as the .eal of the Prophets( %ut
grants Jesus a uni7ue status among the preursors of the ultimate( definitive prophet in
a line that stems from *%raham. Jews have a negative relation to !hrist( %ut not
neessaril& to Jesus( who is sarel& responsi%le for what supposed !hristianit& has
done in his name. )ier$egaard( another master of iron& "whih he alled 0indiret
ommuniation1#( remar$ed in his Judge for &ourself8: 0!hristianit& has ompletel&
on7uered 9 that is( it is a%olished81 :videntl&( the Danish sage meant that &ou ould
%eome a !hristian onl& in opposition to the esta%lished order.
p. 2;
+hether in aphorisms or in para%les( Jesus spea$s riddles. He is the poet of the riddle(
antiipating Dante( .ha$espeare( !ervantes( John Donne( :merson( Niet<she( )af$a
and man& others in the literar& and spiritual tradition of the +est.
p. /1=/2
6& late fried Hans >rei onluded his The identity of Jesus Christ "1;3?# %& autioning
us that we alwa&s will %e at a distane from Jesus 0%eause he lives to @od 9 not to
time.1 )ier$egaard made the same o%servation %ut with super% dou%leness( remar$ing
that the disiples ontemporar& to Jesus reeived his love without understanding it(
sine Jesus alone understands himself perfetl&. Disputing )ier$egaard is dangerous(
and the perple'ities of Jesus are even more dangerous.
!h. ; 0The Trinit&1
!hristian Platonism dispenses with .orati iron&( at least until the nineteenth entur&(
with the advent of .Aren )ier$egaard( whose emphasis %egan where the Trinitarians
end. How an one %eome a !hristian( he as$s( in a realm that prolaims its share in
!hristendom4 5f !hristianit& is to involve ta$ing on some m&ster& of the suffering of
Besus( is it attaina%le when the new %eliever simpl& Bopins herself or himself to most of
soiet&4 The 7uestion would have made little sense in the fourth entur& and would
have oppressed )ier$egaard a millennium and a half later( and seems unanswera%le in
twent&=first entur& *meria.
!h. 11 0The Divine Name: Yahweh1
pp. 1/C=1/3
)ier$egaard is the lion on m& path( %eause his Ne%uhadne<<ar( after easing to %e a
grass=eating %east( marvels at Yahweh:
*nd no one $nows an&thing of Him( who was His father( and how he a7uired His
power( and who taught Him the seret of his might.
"D# )ier$egaard,s Ne%uhadne<<ar is the epitome of the Danish ironist,s sense of the
immense diffiult& of %eoming a !hristian when &ou dwell in !hristendom.
pp. 1C2=1C/
the *7edah "D# alwa&s renders me unhapp&( despite the %rilliant defense offered for it
%& )ier$egaard in Fear and Trembling( one of his ironi masterpiees. )ier$egaard
interprets *%raham as the )night of >aith who nevertheless interprets *%raham as the
)night of >aith who nevertheless understands that 5saa will survive. That
understanding is more Eutheran than Judai "D# )ier$egaard reinvents the anient
!hristian idea of 0the a%surd1. *%raham( aording to the Fur,an was a 6uslin( %ut onl&
)ier$egaard regards *%raham as a !hristian %efore the fat( as it were: 0He %elieves
%& virtue of the a%surdG for there ould %e no 7uestion of human alulation( and it was
indeed the a%surd that @od who re7uired it of him
should the ne't instant reall the re7uirement1.
!h. 13 0.elf=e'ile of Yahweh1H
p. 20I
Does Yahweh possess full $nowledge of the future4 !an an&pne( if he remem%ers no
past4 Yahweh defies foregrounding. His earl& histor& has %een hroniled %& the J
writerG the hallenge is @od,s prehistor&. )ier$egaard,s Ne%uhadne<<ar( restored to
human status after eating grass li$e an o'( as$s who taught Yahweh his wisdom4

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