Publisher's Synopsis
Who is supposed to feel ashamed (and for what)? Who defines guilt? Does collective guilt exist and who bears its responsibility? Who are victims or perpetrators? What constitutes remorse? Who is required to repent (and for what)? The essays collected here reflect on shame, guilt, and remorse as individual as well as communal phenomena. The ambivalence, contradictions, and complexities of these terms become apparent in the multiplicity of positions and approaches taken by different authors. They reveal that shame is both destructive and productive, guilt can be individual and collective, and remorse is self-referential and process-oriented. These terms are seen as aspects of responsibility and community, as well as within the dynamic to sinfulness and sanctity within the church. The volume consists of 13 essays by Christian authors from the Western hemisphere. The majority belong to the scholarly network Bearing Guilt: The Church and Its Guilt which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). By taking up the topic of shame with its relevance for remorse and the process to overcome guilt, this book belongs within current systematic-theological discourse.
