One of the difficulties in blogging through a book is finding a book that can sustain a conversation over a month or more by both advancing an argument and doing so in such a way that variety obtains. Miroslav Volf’s book for me does the former but the themes are not diverse enough, so I want to post a brief piece today and close it down next Friday. After that, we will begin looking at Darryl Tippens, Pilgrim Heart.
Forgetting is the theme of 8 is “defenders of forgetting.” He begins with Freud, moves to Nietzsche, and then on to Kierkegaard.
If the early Freud and later Freud approached this issue differently, there remains a continuity at some level on the importance of forgetting pain. Nietzsche developed, in four kinds of forgetting, an “aristocratic forgetting” — and I think it is fair to say that this refers to the capacity of the strong individual to live above the ruckus and fray of pain and wounds. It is above and beyond justice.
Kierkegaard sees love hiding a multitude of sins and taking them away. We pretend not to see; we hold the offenses behind our back. How? By remembering Christ we learn to forget the sins-against-us by others. But, against Kierkegaard, love and justice come together in forgiveness.
By the way, you ought to hear the Scandinavians pronounce “Kierkegaard”. Anyone there to do it phonetically? Give it a try.
How about this? Chyir-ke-gyor.