Forgiveness as the way to salvation

ǂa ǂsoteriological account of forgiveness in the religious writings of Kierkegaard and its meaning for immanent ethics

Abstract

This paper attempts to draw a strict Christian vision of forgiveness from Kierkegaard’s religious writings and to present its possible meaning for immanent ethics. The starting point of the considerations presented herein is the presupposition that forgiveness, as an essentially Christian phenomenon, does not refer to immanent interpersonal relations, but has its own deep, transcendent dimension. In this view, forgiveness is founded on the spiritual understanding of love of one’s neighbour as an act in which God always mediates in the relation between two people. It is He who really forgives and, in this act, reconciles and equalizes the one who loves and the sinner with each other. Such forgiveness does not concern some particular sinful act, but the sin of life—living without God in the world. In this sense, forgiveness is a creative work of love which transforms the being of man and recreates it in the new reality of love, opening before the individual the way to salvation. At the end of the text, I argue that such forgiveness may have great importance for immanent ethics if only the epistemic and moral distance between temporal and eternal reality is kept.

Keywords

forgiveness;love;soteriology;Christianity;transcendent ethics;immanent ethics;

Data

Language:	English
Year of publishing:	2023
Typology:	1.01 - Original Scientific Article
Organization:	UL TEOF - Theological Faculty
UDC:	1Kierkegaard S.: 2-185.36
COBISS:	174633731
ISSN:	0006-5722
Views:	21
Downloads:	6
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
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Other data

Secondary language:	Slovenian
Secondary title:	Odpuščanje kot pot do odrešenja
Secondary abstract:	Prispevek skuša iz Kierkegaardovih verskih spisov izluščiti strogo krščansko vizijo odpuščanja in predstaviti njen morebitni pomen za imanentno etiko. Izhodišče predstavljenih razmišljanj je predpostavka, da se odpuščanje kot bistveno krščanski pojav ne nanaša na imanentne medosebne odnose, temveč ima svojo globoko, transcendentno razsežnost. V tem smislu odpuščanje temelji na duhovnem razumevanju ljubezni do bližnjega kot dejanja, v katerem v odnosu med dvema človekoma vedno posreduje Bog. On je tisti, ki zares odpušča in s tem dejanjem spravi in izenači ljubečega ter grešnika. Takšno odpuščanje ne zadeva kakega posebnega grešnega dejanja, ampak greh življenja – življenje v svetu brez Boga. V tem smislu je odpuščanje ustvarjalno delo ljubezni, ki človeško bitje preoblikuje, ga poustvarja v novi resničnosti ljubezni in pred posameznikom odpira pot k odrešenju. Na koncu prispevka trdim, da ima takšno odpuščanje za imanentno etiko lahko velik pomen, če le ohranimo epistemično in moralno razdaljo med časno in večno resničnostjo.
Secondary keywords:	odpuščanje;ljubezen;soteriologija;krščanstvo;transcendentna etika;imanentna etika;Kierkegaard;Søren;1813-1855;
Type (COBISS):	Article
Pages:	str. 305-326
Volume:	ǂLetn. ǂ83
Issue:	ǂ[št.] ǂ2
Chronology:	2023
DOI:	10.34291/BV2023/02/Slowikowski
ID:	25318230