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Profile photo of Jayne Svenungsson

Jayne Svenungsson

Researcher

Profile photo of Jayne Svenungsson

The Art of Listening to the Past : Reflections on Theological History Writing

Author

  • Jayne Svenungsson

Summary, in English

This essay ponders the ethos and premises of history writing with particular regard to the discipline of Systematic Theology. Taking inspiration from Hans Ruin’s recent phenomenological study Being with the Dead, the first part reflects on the otherness of historical subjects. More specifically, it raises the question of how we, as modern scholars, relate to and represent historical thinkers and their ideas in a truthful way, that is, without either mystifying them or appropriating them for specific theological aims. The second part of the essay is concerned with our own subjectivity and how it is affected by our “being with the dead”, including our dead intellectual peers. Focus is here placed on the moral respon- sibility that is attached to history writing, especially in a time when efforts are continuously being made to exploit memories of a common Christian past for various ideological purposes.

Department/s

  • Studies in Faith and World Views

Publishing year

2020

Language

English

Pages

29-43

Publication/Series

Patristica Nordica Annuaria

Issue

35

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Collegium Patristicum Lundense

Topic

  • Religious Studies

Keywords

  • Systematic Theology
  • history writing
  • Hans Ruin,
  • Rowan Williams
  • otherness of historical subjects
  • moral responsibility

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2001-2365