Søren Kierkegaard and the Impossibility of (Un)Forgiveness
Another Look at Love, Mercy, and Reconciliation in Kierkegaard’s Theological Ethics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14760765 |
|---|---|
| Authors | G P Marcar (0000-0003-3068-9905, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 716-734 |
| Publication date | 2019-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Religious Ethics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0384-9694 • E-ISSN: 1467-9795 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/jore.12288 |
| OpenAlex | W2991343251 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 6 |
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
Agape · Epistemology · Forgiveness · Immutability · Impossibility · Perspective (graphical · Philosophy of love · Psychoanalysis · Theology · Victory · Forgiveness and Related Behaviors · Law · Philosophy · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2021 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |