Reddit mentions of Fear and Trembling/Repetition : Kierkegaard's Writings, Vol. 6

Or you could back-off on the sarcasm and possibly allow a fair response. Religion and Logic simply may not be compatible in every case, but it doesn't follow that a God, or any metaphysical principle for that matter, necessarily doesn't exist on those grounds. There are plenty of things that exist that are neither strictly logical nor can be expressed through a system of formal logic. That's one possible counter argument, but a better one comes from [Kierkegaard,] (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kierkegaard/) an influential danish philosopher, whose most famous work is Fear and Trembling. I'm not taking a stance for or against any theistic beliefs. It just I've noticed more circle-jerkiness and intellectual laziness here lately.

I'm in a similar boat as you; interested in continental, but surrounded by a lot of analytics.

Hegel is notorious for being dense and difficult to read, and while he was incredibly influential on many later continental thinkers, I don't think anyone who really wanted to help you get into continental philosophy would have you start on Hegel, unless they were committed to reading through it with you.

Heidegger's maybe a bit less obtuse at times, but he can also be confusing if you don't have a professor or more experienced student guiding you along. I asked a professor where I should start, and he recommended his published lecture notes from The History of the Concept of Time, which I admittedly haven't finished yet, but he spends a lot of time in it explaining Husserl's philosophy of phenomenology, which is crucial for understanding Heidegger, as well as a number of other continental thinkers.

As for some easier continental-esque thinkers, there are some that I think are a bit more accessible. Bear in mind that there isn't exactly a group of thinkers who all signed a document saying they were continental philosophers, but there are a number who seem to run in the tradition, and many others who were at the very least related to them.

To begin, I'd recommend some Kierkegaard. He was a Christian philosopher, and is often considered to be one of the earliest existentialist philosopher's. He did a number of works on concepts of faith, anxiety, dread and other elements of the human condition, adding his own angles on them to apply them to Christian philosophy. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms in order to create a number of different perspectives, although underlying all the chaos was a desire to get you to start thinking for yourself. A good place to start with him would be Fear and Trembling. Many of his ideas were influential on continental thinkers such as Heidegger, Jaspers and Sartre.

To go in a very different direction, Nietzsche is another thinker who was very influential on many continental philosophers. The self-declared Anti-Christ, he basically believed that we are about to enter a post-God world, with his writings often either trying to burn our bridges back to the Church or trying to point us in a new direction. Like Kierkegaard, he doesn't always say what he means directly, but much of his philosophy is ultimately aimed at getting you to start thinking for yourself. I'd recommend this anthology, as it contains a number of pretty crucial writings of his.

If after this you're still interested in Heidegger, I don't have as much background there, although I've read a few of his Basic Writings, which is a collection of essays of his. In one of my classes, we also read an essay from his Pathmarks which wasn't terribly dense, so that might be a nice place to start as well. Being and Time is generally considered to be his most important work, but it's renowned for being dense and difficult, although there are a number of commentaries on that book alone that may prove useful.

For one final recommendation, I'll throw in Kaufmann's anothology of existential writings, which has a number of essays on existentialism, which was heavily tied to many core continental thinkers.

And I wouldn't worry about your roommate.

>Beer and Trembling

A play on this or maybe even this (which is based on the first one)? Or maybe it's just a phrase that has made its way into popular culture?

First of all, struggle IS pleasure. We are men. We enjoy the feeling of becoming stronger.

Second of all, for anxiety/self-doubt see Kierkegaard: FEAR AND TREMBLING and also REPETITION. Nietzsche says the same thing in his analysis of THE ETERNAL RECURRENCE.

1: will it. 2: do it. 3: affirm it forever afterward.

If you have regret or doubt yourself after the fact, you live in anxiety.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691020264?keywords=fear%20and%20trembling&qid=1457722032&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2

If anybody is willing to spend a littttle more, I've been told this is a far better translation

Also, to what extent is having a working knowlege of Christianity/Christian texts necessary for understanding this particular work?

I would recommend either the Hongs’ translation, which is standard, or Sylvia Walsh’s recent translation, which has an excellent intro by C. Stephen Evans, author of Kierkegaard: An Introduction.

No, stop being a sell-out for an unbelieving world. Watch this or study the message of Abraham to learn what the Christian faith requires—it requires you to become an absolute singularity unconcerned with the public. If God finds it fitting for your message to achieve universal approval, He’ll take care of it on his end.