Søren Kierkegaard and the Impossibility of (Un)Forgiveness
Discussions of forgiveness within Christian theology have tended to focus on the conditions in which forgiveness may be a moral or divine imperative for believers. With regard to Søren Kierkegaard's theological ethics, this article explicates a radical perspective. For the Kierkegaardian Christ...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2019]
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| In: |
Journal of religious ethics
Year: 2019, Volume: 47, Issue: 4, Pages: 716-734 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Kierkegaard, Søren 1813-1855, Kjerlighedens gjerninger
/ Love of neighbor
/ Forgiveness
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| IxTheo Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism CB Christian life; spirituality NCB Personal ethics VA Philosophy |
| Further subjects: | B
Forgiveness
B Søren Kierkegaard B Works of Love B Theological Anthropology B Mercy B Christian Ethics |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Discussions of forgiveness within Christian theology have tended to focus on the conditions in which forgiveness may be a moral or divine imperative for believers. With regard to Søren Kierkegaard's theological ethics, this article explicates a radical perspective. For the Kierkegaardian Christian lover, no definitive relational break with the other (however objectionable) can occur. As Kierkegaard emphasizes in Works of Love, in a discourse which bears this sentiment as its title, "love abides." Indeed, I illustrate how in three consecutive discourses in Works of Love—"VI: Love Abideth," "VII: Mercy, a Work of Love," and "VIII: The Victory of the Reconciliation in Love"—Kierkegaard's ethical vision is grounded in Christian love's immutability. For Kierkegaard, if Christian love is present, then forgiveness is redundant, and unforgiveness is impossible. |
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| ISSN: | 1467-9795 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religious ethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/jore.12288 |