Inhabiting compassion: A pastoral theological paradigm

Inspired by the vision of care in Vincent van Gogh’s depiction of the parable of the Good Samaritan, this article offers a paradigm for inhabiting compassion. Compassion is understood in this article as a moral emotion that is also a pathocentric virtue. This definition creates a dynamic view of com...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zylla, Phil C. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2017
In: HTS teologiese studies
Year: 2017, Volume: 73, Issue: 4
Further subjects:B Philosophers
B Theology
B Practical Theology
B Ministers of Religion
B Ancient Semitic and Classical Languages
B Aspects of Religious Studies
B Theologians
B Netherdutch Reformed Church
B Scholars
B Sociology and Ethics
B Philosophy
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Summary:Inspired by the vision of care in Vincent van Gogh’s depiction of the parable of the Good Samaritan, this article offers a paradigm for inhabiting compassion. Compassion is understood in this article as a moral emotion that is also a pathocentric virtue. This definition creates a dynamic view of compassion as a desire to alleviate the suffering of others, the capacity to act on behalf of others and a commitment to sustain engagement with the suffering other. To weave this vision of compassion as a habitus rather than a theoretical construct, the article develops three phases of compassion: seeing, companioning and sighing. This framework deepens and augments a pastoral theological paradigm of compassion with the aim of inculcating an inhabited compassion in caregivers and the communities in which they participate.
ISSN:2072-8050
Contains:Enthalten in: HTS teologiese studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.4102/hts.v73i4.4644