The Silence of Abraham: When Faith and Struggle Live Together
亚伯拉罕的沉默：当信心与挣扎同在
Many of us grew up with a certain picture of the "heroes of faith." We imagine Abraham, told to offer up his son, rising the next morning and walking calmly up the mountain — no tremor, no tears, no inner storm. The father of faith, we assume, simply obeyed, feeling nothing.
And so, quietly, we draw a conclusion about ourselves: if I feel torn, afraid, reluctant — if part of me resists even while I'm trying to obey — then my faith must be weak. If you have ever felt that, I'd like to invite you to look at the story again.
What the text doesn't say
Genesis 22 tells us what Abraham did in remarkable detail — he rose early, saddled the donkey, cut the wood, walked three days, built the altar, bound his son, reached out his hand. But about what he felt, the text says almost nothing. We are not told whether his heart was breaking, whether he slept that night, whether his hands shook.
The scholar Erich Auerbach famously observed that biblical narrative is unusually silent about the inner lives of its characters — it gives us actions, not feelings, leaving much "fraught with background." Literary readers call this a narrative gap: the storyteller withholds detail, and in doing so invites the reader to lean in and imagine. The silence is not emptiness. It is space.
Silence is not the same as numbness
Here is what that space allows us to notice. This is the same Abraham whom Scripture, just one chapter earlier, describes as "greatly distressed" over sending away his son Ishmael (Genesis 21:11). This is the father whom God's own words tenderly acknowledge: "your son, your only son, whom you love" (Genesis 22:2). The text seems almost to keep reminding us of the bond between them.
If parting from one son grieved him deeply, what might he have carried up that mountain with the other? The Bible does not tell us — but its silence certainly does not require us to believe he felt nothing. It leaves room for a real, flesh-and-blood man: one who may have obeyed God with a heart that was also breaking.
Why this matters for us
When we flatten Abraham into a man without feelings, we do two quiet harms. We lose the costliness of what he did — obedience that costs nothing is not the same as obedience that costs everything and is offered anyway. And we set ourselves an impossible standard: the belief that real faith means feeling no struggle at all.
But Scripture is full of people who trusted God and trembled. The Psalms are thick with fear, anger and lament poured out in the very act of faith. Even our Lord, in Gethsemane, prayed "let this cup pass" — and then, "yet not my will, but yours." Surrender and struggle were not enemies there; they lived in the same prayer.
So if you are walking up a hard mountain right now — following where you believe God is leading, while part of you grieves or fears or resists — please hear this: that inner struggle is not the failure of your faith. It may be the very shape of it. You are allowed to obey with a trembling heart.
"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours, be done." — Luke 22:42
This is a personal reflection, offered as encouragement — not a definitive interpretation of Scripture, and not a substitute for counselling or pastoral care. If you are carrying something heavy, you are welcome to reach out.
This reflection was inspired by 李君哲, 《文學、心理學與釋經——以創世記22章為例》(Literature, Psychology and Hermeneutics: A Study of Genesis 22), and draws on Erich Auerbach's Mimesis.
我们很多人,心里都有一幅"信心伟人"的画像。我们想象亚伯拉罕——被吩咐献上自己的儿子——第二天清早起来,平静地走上山去,没有颤抖、没有眼泪、没有内心的风暴。我们假设,这位信心之父只是顺服了,什么感觉都没有。
于是,我们悄悄地为自己下了一个结论:如果我感到挣扎、害怕、不情愿——如果在我努力顺服的同时,内心仍有一部分在抗拒——那我的信心一定很软弱。如果你曾这样想过,我想邀请你,再看一次这个故事。
经文没有说的
创世记 22 章极其详细地告诉我们亚伯拉罕做了什么——他清早起来、备上驴、劈好柴、走了三天、筑了坛、捆绑了儿子、伸手拿刀。但关于他感受到什么,经文却几乎只字未提。它没有告诉我们他是否心碎、那一夜是否睡着、他的手是否颤抖。
学者奥尔巴赫有一个著名的观察:圣经叙事对人物的内心世界异常沉默——它给我们的是行动,不是情感,留下大量"言外之意"。文学上把这称为叙事间隙(narrative gap):叙事者刻意保留细节,反而邀请读者走近、去想象。这沉默不是空洞,而是空间。
沉默,不等于麻木
这"空间"让我们注意到一件事:就是这位亚伯拉罕,圣经在仅仅一章之前,描述他因为要送走儿子以实玛利而"甚忧愁"(创世记 21:11)。也是这位父亲,神亲口温柔地点明他的爱:"你带着你的儿子,就是你独生的、你所爱的"(创世记 22:2)。经文几乎在不断提醒我们,这父子之间的情感。
如果与一个儿子分离已让他深深忧愁,那么这一次,他带着另一个儿子走上那座山,心里可能背负着什么?圣经没有告诉我们——但它的沉默,绝不要求我们相信他毫无感受。它留下空间,让他成为一个有血有肉的人:一个或许是带着一颗也在碎裂的心,去顺服神的人。
这对我们为什么要紧
当我们把亚伯拉罕压平成一个没有感情的人,我们悄悄造成了两种伤害。我们失去了他所做之事的"代价"——不付任何代价的顺服,与付上一切、却仍然献上的顺服,是两回事。我们也为自己立下一个不可能的标准:以为真正的信心,意味着完全没有挣扎。
但圣经里满是既信靠神、又战兢的人。诗篇里充满了在信心的行动之中倾倒出来的恐惧、愤怒与哀歌。甚至我们的主,在客西马尼园祷告"求你叫这杯离开我"——然后说,"然而不要成就我的意思,只要成就你的意思"。在那里,顺服与挣扎并不是敌人;它们活在同一个祷告里。
所以,如果你此刻正走在一座艰难的山上——一边跟随你所相信神的带领,一边内心有一部分在哀伤、害怕、或抗拒——请听这句话:那内心的挣扎,并不是你信心的失败。它也许正是你信心的形状。你是被允许的——可以带着一颗颤抖的心去顺服。
"父啊,你若愿意,就把这杯撤去;然而不要成就我的意思,只要成就你的意思。" —— 路加福音 22:42
这是一篇个人的反思,作为鼓励而写——并非对圣经的定论式解读,也不能替代辅导或教牧关怀。如果你正背负着沉重的东西,欢迎与我联系。
本文的反思受 李君哲《文學、心理學與釋經——以創世記22章為例》一文启发,并参考奥尔巴赫《摹仿论》(Mimesis)。
Following God through a hard season, while your heart aches? You don't have to walk it alone. The first 15-minute conversation is free and confidential, in English, Mandarin or Cantonese.
在艰难的季节里跟随神,内心却隐隐作痛？你不必独自走这条路。初次 15 分钟倾谈免费、保密,可用国语、粤语或英语。
Book a session预约辅导