Meningsfullt meningslöst lidande : En analys av Dorothee Sölles och Sami Pihlströms texter

• Main Author: Fackel Holst, Ellen
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen 2024
• Subjects: Christian theology; the problem of evil; meaning; meaninglessness; suffering; antitheodicy; Dorothee Sölle; Sami Pihlström; existential questions; Kristen teologi; ondskans problem; menings; meningslöshet; lidande; antiteodicé; existentiella frÃ¥gor; Religious Studies; Religionsvetenskap; sami
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-537120

Is meaningless suffering always something negative? Is it necessary for suffering to have a meaning and what would that meaning be? We all encounter suffering in different shapes and forms in our lives and in the world. This essay explores the prospect of meaningful meaningless suffering by analysing Dorothe Sölle’s book Suffering[1] and Sami Pihlström’s book Pragmatic Realism, Religious Truth, and Antitheodicy: On Viewing the World by Acknowledging the Other.[2] The essay wants to fulfil the purpose of exploring and evaluating the thoughts and ideas expressed by the authors regarding existential questions in relation to suffering, meaning and theology. Through the analyses I aim to create a theological standpoint on the problem of evil that takes existential dimensions and the relationship between humans and god into account. The main question of the essay is how Sölle and Pihlström respectively relates to the problem of evil and if their thoughts and ideas can be called an antitheodicy. Working with the antitheodicy as the theoretical framework, using a method inspired by idea-analyses, argumentative-analyses and guided by a few additional research questions the material is analysed and compared. The essay concludes that Sölle takes suffering seriously and wants to adopt an attitude of learning in relation to suffering which will in turn make suffering meaningful. Activity, productivity and change is important for her. Sölle describes god not as an almighty judge or executioner but as someone who suffers alongside his creation. All though Sölle takes suffering seriously her ideas can be critiqued based on the antitheodicy. The essay also concludes that Pihlström adopts a morally and pragmatically motivated antitheodicy that, among other things, rejects metaphysical realism and places emphasis on the humans own right to search for and create meaning in suffering while at the same time being open to the possibility of only finding meaninglessness. The essay ends with my own standpoint on the issue.  ...