Open AccessReflecting on Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness from a positive psychological perspective
Author(s) -
Eben Scheffler
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
hts teologiese studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.282
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 2072-8050
pISSN - 0259-9422
DOI - 10.4102/hts.v71i1.2982
Subject(s) - forgiveness , spirituality , psychology , interpersonal communication , perspective (graphical) , buddhism , positive psychology , social psychology , judgement , psychotherapist , relation (database) , mindfulness , theology , epistemology , philosophy , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , database , artificial intelligence , computer science
In its quest for a non-medical, pro-health approach to psychotherapy, positive psychology surprisingly focuses on concepts that are biblical and specifically present in the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth. In this paper,(1) the teaching of Jesus in the synoptic tradition on forgiveness will be compared to recent positive psychological approaches (e.g. McCullough & Witvliet); attention will be paid to the (2) contexts of forgiveness (interpersonal and/or political); (3) the (philosophical) positive or negative judgement on forgiveness as a positive notion (e.g. the Buddhist concept of karma, [e.g. Arendt, Deridda, Wolterstorff]); (4) the (perceived) positive role of forgiveness in psychotherapy; (5) the ‘techniques’ or method of forgiveness when the latter seems difficult; and (6) the relation between forgiveness and religion or spirituality