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The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World
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Average Rating:  out of 7 Reviews
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Price: $22.00
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Sale: $13.98
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Manufacturer: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
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EAN (European Article Number): 9780802829894
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Number of Items: 1
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Binding: Hardcover
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Author: Miroslav Volf
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Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
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Dewey Decimal Number: 241.4
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Publication Date: 2006-11
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Reading Level: 244
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Description: Can one forget atrocities? Should one forgive abusers? Ought we not hope for the final reconciliation of all the wronged and all wrongdoers alike, even if it means spending eternity with perpetrators of evil? We live in an age when it is generally accepted that past wrongs -- genocides, terrorist attacks, bald personal injustices -- should be constantly remembered. But Miroslav Volf here proposes the radical idea that letting go of such memories -- after a certain point and under certain conditions -- may actually be the appropriate course of action. While agreeing with the claim that to remember a wrongdoing is to struggle against it, Volf notes that there are too many ways to remember wrongly, perpetuating the evil committed rather than guarding against it. In this way, "the just sword of memory often severs the very good it seeks to defend." He argues that remembering rightly has implications not only for the individual but also for the wrongdoer and for the larger community. Volf's personal stories of persecution offer a compelling backdrop for his search for theological resources to make memories a wellspring of healing rather than a source of deepening pain and animosity. Controversial, thoughtful, and incisively reasoned, The End of Memory begins a conversation hard to ignore.
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: Precise yet difficult discussion that we should all reflect upon |
Date: 2008-12-07 |
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Details: Though Volf only occasionally mentions being a pacifist within these pages, I love this book as it benefits the discussion of pacifism as not merely a simple subscription to "war is bad", but as true respect for human life and Christ's love. Indeed we must explore the intricate human relations involved in making such an assertion.
Miroslav Volf brings us into an eloquent, yet difficult, discussion on remembering wrongs TRUTHFULLY in order to work towards healing and ultimately forgiveness, graduated to an end to memory of such wrongs in order to truly move forward.
While I hope I do not do a disservice to this wonderful book by writing a condensed review, I believe that anyone holding a grudge, pointing fingers, or honestly feeling hurt by wrongs suffered should explore Volf's humble reflection.
This would do well for the criminal justice community, social workers, counselors, and I think most importantly: parents. Christians may find Volf's exploration beneficial to their growth in Christian ethics, but I believe that the secular or non-Christian will find 'End' helpful in explaining certain aspects of pacifism.
As with most books of philophical discussion, The End of Memory is not as easy to read as lets say a common novel, so it may take those like me a little exra time to read and comprehend... though I suppose that helps give one a chance to seriously think about each page. My fourth star is because of this, but I suppose that may be my shortcoming not Volf's.
I look forward to reading 'Exclusion and Embrace'. |
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Review Summary: Insightful and Timely |
Date: 2007-12-19 |
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Details: Miroslav Volf is an evangelical theologian and professor at Yale Divinity School. He also grew up in the former Yugoslavia and its communist rule. And it is precisely his experiences in Yugoslavia during his year of mandatory military service that provide the focus for this book, a sustained reflection on the meaning of memory and grace with regard to wrongs committed against us.
Volf sets up his reflections by recounting his memory of the sustained interrogations to which he was subjected by "Captain G." during his year of military service. Because of his training in America, his background in theology, his critique of Marxism, and his marriage to an American, he was a person of suspicion. This resulted in sustained interrogations, threats of detainment, and psychological torture. This background leads him to the question, What does it mean to remember these wrongs done against us?
The first stage of his argument deals with the question of if we should remember. In today's culture, especially in the wake of the Holocaust and other attrocities of the past century, the answer seems an obvious yes. And Volf echoes this answer, marshalling the call of such people as Elie Wiesel, who rally around the cry, Remember! It is important to acknowledge wrongdoing, and to recognize both those who are wrong and those who have been wronged. But, he also turns us to wrestle with the question of how we should remember.
Memory is important, but it is also ambiguous. Memory can be put to many uses. It can help us to prevent further wrongs or atrocities, but it can also lead us to perpetrate wrongs out of self-interest (say out of the desire to not be a victim again ourselves). So the first facet of memory that Volf emphasizes is that we must remember truthfully. This means honestly seeking as complete an understanding of events as possible, admitting the points of view of others than ourselves, and acknowledging the complexities that are often inherent in these situations. It is often easy in situations where we have been wronged to make out the perpetrator as the "evil" party and ourselves as the "good" or "innocent" party. But the facts often reveal a more complex picture. While the evil can still be named as such, there is often more to it, such as the fact that Captain G. was operating within a system that condoned and encouraged his behavior toward Volf and other suspects. A second important facet of our remembering is that it is to be in service of reconciliation. We are to strive to bring a full and accurate account of events to mind so that we can fully acknowledge the situation, along with the perperatator, and then offer forgiveness and grace to that person, and, when it is received, enter into a new and reconciled relationship with them, beyond the roles of perpetrator and victim, where the wrong is forgotten.
This brings us to the third major theme of Volf's book. Beyond memory, and beyond a certain type of remembering in service of grace, comes forgetting. We should strive toward and look forward to a grace-filled world in which wrongs are fully acknowledged and then forgotten. In light of Jesus' death on the cross, a death which dealt with all evil, we look forward in hope to a time when that grace will embrace our situation. Volf is careful to remind that this forgetting is always on the other side of acknowledgement, forgiveness, and reconciliation, but it is still an end. We should (though it is not easy) long for a time when perpetrator and victim can come together without those labels, when a new and reconcilied relationship has forgotten completely those earlier roles, and draws them together as friends and companions. This is Volf's vision of the life to come, on the other side of the final judgment, a life that we can begin to experience here and now through a drive for reconciliation (as opposed to retribution).
Volf's End of Memory is an honest wrestling with the true nature of Christianity, the atonement, and grace. It helps paint a fuller picture of grace by looking beyond what grace means for me personally to a look at what grace should mean for my enemies, as well. He makes a convincing case for the importance of memory, a truthful and just type of memory, but then qualifies this memory as provisional. We instead look toward the end of memory, that time when all things will be made new, all wrongs remembered and then forgotten, and all eyes turned from past hurts to fulfillment and joy in Jesus Christ. It is a great and challenging vision of a grace-filled life. And is also a deep reflection what shapes our identity (hint: it's not our history, though that plays a role; who we are is ultimately grounded in God.) |
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Review Summary: Is it possible to forget atrocities, and should one really forgive abusers? |
Date: 2007-10-19 |
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Details: Is it possible to forget atrocities, and should one really forgive abusers? How does memory interact with social injunctions that past wrongs never be forgotten? THE END OF MEMORY: REMEMBERING RIGHTLY IN A VIOLENT WORLD will appeal to many different collections; from health and psychology holdings to social issues and history collections at the college level. These libraries will find both controversial and insightful discussions that delve into both the origins of violent memories and their purposes and the conflicts over whether to keep them alive for future generations or in the background to allow healing.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch |
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Review Summary: Very Thought Provoking |
Date: 2007-06-15 |
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Details: Wonderful book! At times uncomfortably honest, very deep, inciteful, and practical. Volf articulates his arguments clearly, and his thought process is well organized throughout the book. I highly recommed this book. |
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Review Summary: Timely & thoughtful |
Date: 2007-05-18 |
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Details: Volf gets to the heart of our society's bullying stance by asking: How much of my (our) future will I (we) allow our tormentors to colonize? With the mind and method of premier scholarship and the heart of a poet, Volf probes the question personally and asks it publicly. Never an easy read, but probably an essential one for folks of real hope and deep honesty. He is clear, "Both ways in which this book disturbs conventional opinion are rooted in a single conviction: the proper goal of the memory of wrongs suffered-- its appropriate end-- is the formation of the communion of love between all people, including victims and perpetrators."(p.232) He desires a radical responsibility of all people and challenges us to step into it by learning to "remember rightly."
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