:: M squared T ::

:: Thursday, April 22, 2004 ::

Yale University Prof. Dr. Miroslav Volf Interviewed by PBS

Dr. Miroslav Volf was interviewed by PBS regarding issues of faith and culture - faith in everyday life. The interview can be found here. The video can be found here.

Quoting from the Online Transcript:

If I say, "I forgive you," I have implicitly said you have done something wrong to me. If I say, "I forgive you," I have blamed you for infringing [in] some way upon my space, [for having] done something that wasn't right. You have committed [an] injustice. So every forgiveness has as ... part a[n] affirmation of the claims of justice and statement that somebody has transgressed against me. But what forgiveness is, at its heart, is both saying that justice has been violated and not letting that violation count against the offender. I release the offender from what justice would demand to be done for that person. That's what forgiveness is. I think Christian tradition has a very acute and important sense of that and can make an important contribution to proper understanding of, and practice of, forgiveness.

Volf speaks of the nature of forgiveness in no uncertain terms: Forgiving someone declares that a wrong has been done. Nonetheless, forgiveness frees the wronged and the wrongdoer of the burden of the wrong, allowing them to live together in reconciliation.

:: Matt 4/22/2004 04:15:00 PM :: permalink :: ::
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