A public theological approach to the (im)possibility of forgiveness in Matthew 18.15-35 : reading the text through the lens of integral theory
Date
2017-01-31
Authors
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Publisher
AOSIS Publishing
Abstract
Some 20 years after the dawn of participative democracy there is little
noticeable or substantial change in the living conditions of the average South African.
The country remains divided by race, class and economics. Poverty, inequality and
racial enmity remain looming challenges to human flourishing and social
transformation. Some have begun to ask whether forgiveness for the sins of
colonialism and apartheid are possible? This paper engages with the (im)possibility
of forgiveness as it is presented in Matthew 18.15-35. In particular, it does so from the
bilingual perspective of a Public Theological engagement with the text and its
contemporary readers in South Africa. By reading the text from an integral All
Quadrants All Levels (AQAL) approach this paper extrapolates a textured
understanding of forgiveness that ‘possibilises’ the (im)possiblity of forgiveness
between racially and socially divided groups of readers.
Description
CITATION: Forster, D. A. 2016. A public theological approach to the (im)possibility of forgiveness in Matthew 18.15-35 : reading the text through the lens of integral theory. In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi, 51(3), a2108, doi:10.4102/ids.v51i3.2108.
The original publication is available at http://www.indieskriflig.org.za
The original publication is available at http://www.indieskriflig.org.za
Keywords
Bible. Matthew, XVIII, 15-35 -- Criticism, interpretation, etc., Forgiveness, Public theology
Citation
Forster, D. A. 2017. A public theological approach to the (im)possibility of forgiveness in Matthew 18.15-35 : reading the text through the lens of integral theory. In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi, 1(3), a2108, doi:10.4102/ids.v51i3.2108.