Love's Memory: Theology and the Art of Remembering
Dr. Miroslav Volf
October 1, 2 & 3, 2002

The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World is derived from Dr. Volf's Stob lectures along with a variety of other lectures Dr. Volf has given on this topic. This book is available from Eerdmans Publishing. © 2006

Lecture Series:

Oct. 1, 2003: Quick Forgetting, Obligatory Remembering

Oct. 2, 2003: Truthfulness, Integration, Exemplarity

Oct. 3, 2003: Eschatological Non-Remembrance

Lecture Abstract:

NOTE: The lectures broadcast above were a revised version of the intended lectures. The original set of lectures is described here:

There is a broad cultural agreement on the need to remember evils committed and suffered—remember them all and always. At the same time we are increasingly becoming aware that such memories can be extraordinarily dangerous as perpetrators often appeal to the memory of their own past victimization to justify their present violence. The pursuit of memory is a highly ambiguous affair. The primary goal of these lectures is to look for theological resources to disambiguate memories of evil suffered and committed, to make memories a source of healing people and their relationships rather than of deepening of pain and animosity. The three lectures are structured as follows:

"Quick Forgetting, Obligatory Remembering"
At the end of 20th and at the beginning of 21st centuries there is an heightened sense of importance of memories of evil suffered and committed. The lecture will explore the importance of such memories in contemporary cultural situation.

"Truthfulness, Integration, Exemplarity"
The purpose of this lecture is to start constructing a framework for salutary remembering. I will argue that remembering needs to be guided by virtue of truthfulness and pursued both for the sake of helping actors come to terms with themselves and draw lessons in relation to analogous situations in the present.

"Memory of Liberation, Memory of Reconciliation"
The purpose of this lecture is to suggest a broader theological framework for remembering rightly. I will suggest that the memory of Israel’s Exodus and of Christ’s passion ought to serve as the proper framework for pursuit of memories.

About the speaker:

Dr. Volf is Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale University. An internationally recognized human rights activist and theologian, his areas of specialty include ecclesiology, Trinity, and theological perspectives on economy and culture. His publications include Exclusion and Embrace, a reflection on conflicts that are raging around the question of identity, and After Our Likeness, an exploration of the Trinitarian nature of ecclesial community.