Sin and Forgiveness
New Responses in a Changing World
Kay Carmichael(Author)
Ashgate Publishing Limited
Published on 28. November 2003
Book
Hardback
188 pages
978-0-7546-3405-8 (ISBN)
Description
Western attitudes to crime were in the past rooted in concepts of sin, and therefore of hopes for redemption and forgiveness. So what happens - to offenders and society as a whole - in a world where people no longer talk of sin but of evil. If hopes of redemption go too, will revenge take the place of forgiveness? Kay Carmichael explores these dilemmas in this topical and provocative book. She traces the stories of Myra Hindley, Mary Bell, Sarah Payne, James Bulger and his killers, comparing public responses to such crimes in various Western countries. Art and literature are examined for the light they throw on the evolution of our ideas about sin and forgiveness - from Rembrandt to Nathaniel Hawthorne, Samuel Becket, Dali and writings inspired by the Holocaust. Turning to our own day, Carmichael discusses the emergence of structural sins or 'iniquities' in which we may all find ourselves involved: poverty, slavery, violence and war are her themes. Her analysis leaves her sceptical about many contemporary appeals for forgiveness, but hopeful about ideas of restorative justice.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
442 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7546-3405-8 (9780754634058)
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Book
11/2003
Ashgate Publishing Limited
€44.75
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Content
Contents: Introduction; Narratives of a modern dilemma; Responses to sin and forgiveness in art and literature; The move to a contemporary view of sin; Contemporary perspectives on forgiveness; The persistence and intensification of structural sin; How do we live together? Final conclusions; Postscript; Bibliography; Index.