ABSTRACT

For Kierkegaard, temptation is fought by “avoiding” that which tempts, whereas “one must go through” a spiritual trial.5 Though the conditions in which both take place are “deceptively similar,” temptation is “in accord with inclination,” while “spiritual trial [is] contrary to inclination. Therefore the opposite tactic must be employed.”6 In other words, one must flee that which excites human craving, and confront that which one does not crave. Additionally, whereas temptation is generally motivated from without, spiritual trial comes from within. It belongs “to the inwardness of religiousness…to the individual’s absolute relation to the absolute τέλος.”7 The individual’s position also differs: in temptation “it is the lower that tempts; in spiritual trial it is the higher.”8 Spiritual trial “lies a whole quality higher

head-on.” Consequently, there is a difference of intensity: “one year of exposure to temptation is nothing compared with one hour in spiritual trial.”10