Towards the aesthetics of self-termination (suicide). The spiritual interlude between death (shadow) and life (light)

dc.contributor.authorLouw, D. J. (Daniel Johannes), 1944-en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2022-03-25T07:42:00Z
dc.date.available2022-03-25T07:42:00Z
dc.date.issued2020-08-01
dc.descriptionCITATION: Louw, D. J. 2020. Towards the aesthetics of self-termination (suicide). The spiritual interlude between death (shadow) and life (light). Stellenbosch Theological Journal, 6(2):313-342, doi:10.17570/stj.2020.v6n2.a14.en_ZA
dc.descriptionThe original publication is available at: http://www.scielo.org.za
dc.description.abstractTo end one's life (suicide) creates a lot of questions concerning the identity and eventual emotional and spiritual condition of the person. Within a more religious context, the intriguing question surfaces: When a committed believer commits suicide, will such a person still go to heaven? The ethical dilemma evolves around questions regarding right (good/liberation) and wrong (evil/damnation), heaven or hell. Instead of a moral approach, the article opts for an aesthetic approach within the framework of a tragic hermeneutics of self-termination. Instead of applying the notions of “suicide” or “self-killing,” the concept of self-termination is proposed. A theology of dereliction is designed to explain the basic assumption: In a Christian spiritual assessment of “suicide,” the question is not about the how of death and dying but on the being quality of the sufferer. In his forsakenness, the suffocating Christ reframed the ugliness of death into the beauty of dying and termination: Resurrection hope! Several portraits are described from the viewpoint of literature, philosophical and poetic reflections regarding the complexity of the phenomenon of self-termination and its connection to the existential disposition of dreadful anguish; i.e., the ontic and tragic disposition of apathetic unhope (inespoir).en_ZA
dc.description.versionPublisher's version
dc.format.extent30 pages
dc.identifier.citationLouw, D. J. 2020. Towards the aesthetics of self-termination (suicide). The spiritual interlude between death (shadow) and life (light). Stellenbosch Theological Journal, 6(2):313-342, doi:10.17570/stj.2020.v6n2.a14en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn2413-9467 (online)
dc.identifier.issn2413-9459 (print)
dc.identifier.otherdoi:10.17570/stj.2020.v6n2.a14
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/124363
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherPieter de Waal Neethling Trust
dc.rights.holderAuthor retains copyright
dc.subjectSuicideen_ZA
dc.subjectPastoral counselingen_ZA
dc.subjectSoly sombraen_ZA
dc.subjectDeathen_ZA
dc.subjectLifeen_ZA
dc.titleTowards the aesthetics of self-termination (suicide). The spiritual interlude between death (shadow) and life (light)en_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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