This study assesses René Girard's claims regarding the Gospels' understanding of Jesus' death. Though Girard contends that the Gospels never depict Jesus' death as an atonement for sin, there are significant passages that Girard avoids discussing like the Last Supper sayings in the Synoptic Gospels. This dissertation investigates whether these central passages, along with other supporting texts in the Synoptics, jeopardize the viability of Girard's assertions, especially when they are read in light of restoration theology. <br>The core components of Girard's thought, his reading of salvation history, and the ways in which Girard's followers have adapted his thought are adumbrated in the opening chapters. Once the Girardian approach to soteriology has been depicted with its various permutations, the research turns towards Israel's hopes for restoration after the exile, including the reconstitution of its covenantal relationship with YHWH, as they are articulated in the Old Testament and intertestamental literature in order to establish the historical and theological context for reading the Gospels. After identifying the core components of restoration theology, it is argued that the Synoptic Gospels situate Jesus within Israel's hopes for restoration and that this backdrop should inform one's reading of the Synoptics rather than presupposing a polemical relationship between the Gospels and mythology as Girard does. After establishing restoration theology as the leitmotif of the Synoptics, specific attention is devoted to the Last Supper sayings along with other passages that, when read in light of restoration theology, indicate Jesus' death reconstitutes God's covenant relationship with his people by atoning for their sin. Should the exegesis and hermeneutical approach of this study prove persuasive, the conclusions jeopardize Girard's global claims regarding the Gospels' dearth of atonement theology. As a result, concessions or alterations will be necessary. The final segment of the study offers several ways in which Girardian soteriology could be reframed in order to account for the results of this particular study. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Theology; / PhD; / Dissertation;

This dissertation explores how Christian faith affected the hope and resistance of an oppressed people in their response to violence orchestrated against them. It undertakes this task through stories collected from the people of East Timor, a half-island nation located in South-East Asia that was brutally ruled by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999. The nature of Christian faith is a vexed question for the modern world particularly when this faith has grown in countries like East Timor where suffering, violence and oppression were inflicted on the people. This lack of understanding of the nature and development of Christian faith is evident in academic studies of East Timor. Moreover, the difficult nature of this question is compounded by the fact that the violence and oppression, such as that inflicted on the East Timorese, is often orchestrated by the nation-state, which itself is a creation of the modern West. Faith in these circumstances of violence is often explained away as a circumstantial reaction after which the people will return to the path of reason. Yet, this attitude is problematic in the way it juxtaposes reason and faith. It ultimately exposes an unsound anthropological understanding of the human person as well as a view of reason that is narrow and insufficient as it sees reason as unable to cope with the circumstances of violence. This dissertation argues for an understanding of faith and violence through an analysis of the experiences of the East Timorese. This analysis is undertaken from an anthropological and theological understanding of the human person, primarily based on the insights of René Girard which provide clarity in understanding the relationship between human being, reason and faith. This dissertation argues that Christian faith helped the East Timorese people confront the existential and anthropological challenges posed by violence, and so, enabled them to overcome the illusions and false transcendence of violence, which Girard (1977, 31) says “…is the heart and secret soul of the sacred”. The dissertation shows that Christian faith helped form purpose, hope and non-violent resistance to state-sanctioned violence in East Timor through the anthropological, existential and imaginative resources fostered in relationship with Christ. The dissertation proposes an explanation of the experiences of the East Timorese recounted in this dissertation that posits that relationship with and faith in Christ, as the self-giving and victimised “Other”, had a discernible and plausible effect on the East Timorese particularly in the circumstances of violence. This faith commitment seemed to change and free persons and cultural structures in East Timor from the violent transcendence imposed by the dictatorial state that presents itself as “sacred”. This freedom emerged as the oppressed and victimised East Timorese, through their experience of the violent depths of human relations, were directed toward the pacific transcendence located around the victim, Christ, the substance of which is Christ’s self-giving love originating from and shared with the Father through the Spirit. East Timorese people were directed and responded to Christ in faith as they encountered the self-giving mimesis of the Trinity sacramentally and through the martyrs. This faith formed a new ontological way, or direction, which fostered resistance to the sacred violence of the state and their supporters. Through the enactment of their faith in this new and pacific way of being in self-giving mimesis, the Christian community in East Timor sought to resist and transform the state into a more benign and responsive entity by exposing and removing its ability to arbitrarily and indiscriminately victimise and oppress. This ecclesiological stance sought to expose the truth in the midst of the lies of sacred violence through a pacific way of being that was learnt from communion with the risen Christ as self-giving victim.

This dissertation explores how Christian faith affected the hope and resistance of an oppressed people in their response to violence orchestrated against them. It undertakes this task through stories collected from the people of East Timor, a half-island nation located in South-East Asia that was brutally ruled by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999. The nature of Christian faith is a vexed question for the modern world particularly when this faith has grown in countries like East Timor where suffering, violence and oppression were inflicted on the people. This lack of understanding of the nature and development of Christian faith is evident in academic studies of East Timor. Moreover, the difficult nature of this question is compounded by the fact that the violence and oppression, such as that inflicted on the East Timorese, is often orchestrated by the nation-state, which itself is a creation of the modern West. Faith in these circumstances of violence is often explained away as a circumstantial reaction after which the people will return to the path of reason. Yet, this attitude is problematic in the way it juxtaposes reason and faith. It ultimately exposes an unsound anthropological understanding of the human person as well as a view of reason that is narrow and insufficient as it sees reason as unable to cope with the circumstances of violence. This dissertation argues for an understanding of faith and violence through an analysis of the experiences of the East Timorese. This analysis is undertaken from an anthropological and theological understanding of the human person, primarily based on the insights of René Girard which provide clarity in understanding the relationship between human being, reason and faith. This dissertation argues that Christian faith helped the East Timorese people confront the existential and anthropological challenges posed by violence, and so, enabled them to overcome the illusions and false transcendence of violence, which Girard (1977, 31) says “…is the heart and secret soul of the sacred”. The dissertation shows that Christian faith helped form purpose, hope and non-violent resistance to state-sanctioned violence in East Timor through the anthropological, existential and imaginative resources fostered in relationship with Christ. The dissertation proposes an explanation of the experiences of the East Timorese recounted in this dissertation that posits that relationship with and faith in Christ, as the self-giving and victimised “Other”, had a discernible and plausible effect on the East Timorese particularly in the circumstances of violence. This faith commitment seemed to change and free persons and cultural structures in East Timor from the violent transcendence imposed by the dictatorial state that presents itself as “sacred”. This freedom emerged as the oppressed and victimised East Timorese, through their experience of the violent depths of human relations, were directed toward the pacific transcendence located around the victim, Christ, the substance of which is Christ’s self-giving love originating from and shared with the Father through the Spirit. East Timorese people were directed and responded to Christ in faith as they encountered the self-giving mimesis of the Trinity sacramentally and through the martyrs. This faith formed a new ontological way, or direction, which fostered resistance to the sacred violence of the state and their supporters. Through the enactment of their faith in this new and pacific way of being in self-giving mimesis, the Christian community in East Timor sought to resist and transform the state into a more benign and responsive entity by exposing and removing its ability to arbitrarily and indiscriminately victimise and oppress. This ecclesiological stance sought to expose the truth in the midst of the lies of sacred violence through a pacific way of being that was learnt from communion with the risen Christ as self-giving victim.

This dissertation explores how Christian faith affected the hope and resistance of an oppressed people in their response to violence orchestrated against them. It undertakes this task through stories collected from the people of East Timor, a half-island nation located in South-East Asia that was brutally ruled by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999. The nature of Christian faith is a vexed question for the modern world particularly when this faith has grown in countries like East Timor where suffering, violence and oppression were inflicted on the people. This lack of understanding of the nature and development of Christian faith is evident in academic studies of East Timor. Moreover, the difficult nature of this question is compounded by the fact that the violence and oppression, such as that inflicted on the East Timorese, is often orchestrated by the nation-state, which itself is a creation of the modern West. Faith in these circumstances of violence is often explained away as a circumstantial reaction after which the people will return to the path of reason. Yet, this attitude is problematic in the way it juxtaposes reason and faith. It ultimately exposes an unsound anthropological understanding of the human person as well as a view of reason that is narrow and insufficient as it sees reason as unable to cope with the circumstances of violence. This dissertation argues for an understanding of faith and violence through an analysis of the experiences of the East Timorese. This analysis is undertaken from an anthropological and theological understanding of the human person, primarily based on the insights of René Girard which provide clarity in understanding the relationship between human being, reason and faith. This dissertation argues that Christian faith helped the East Timorese people confront the existential and anthropological challenges posed by violence, and so, enabled them to overcome the illusions and false transcendence of violence, which Girard (1977, 31) says “…is the heart and secret soul of the sacred”. The dissertation shows that Christian faith helped form purpose, hope and non-violent resistance to state-sanctioned violence in East Timor through the anthropological, existential and imaginative resources fostered in relationship with Christ. The dissertation proposes an explanation of the experiences of the East Timorese recounted in this dissertation that posits that relationship with and faith in Christ, as the self-giving and victimised “Other”, had a discernible and plausible effect on the East Timorese particularly in the circumstances of violence. This faith commitment seemed to change and free persons and cultural structures in East Timor from the violent transcendence imposed by the dictatorial state that presents itself as “sacred”. This freedom emerged as the oppressed and victimised East Timorese, through their experience of the violent depths of human relations, were directed toward the pacific transcendence located around the victim, Christ, the substance of which is Christ’s self-giving love originating from and shared with the Father through the Spirit. East Timorese people were directed and responded to Christ in faith as they encountered the self-giving mimesis of the Trinity sacramentally and through the martyrs. This faith formed a new ontological way, or direction, which fostered resistance to the sacred violence of the state and their supporters. Through the enactment of their faith in this new and pacific way of being in self-giving mimesis, the Christian community in East Timor sought to resist and transform the state into a more benign and responsive entity by exposing and removing its ability to arbitrarily and indiscriminately victimise and oppress. This ecclesiological stance sought to expose the truth in the midst of the lies of sacred violence through a pacific way of being that was learnt from communion with the risen Christ as self-giving victim.

Zugl.: Innsbruck, Universiẗat, Diss., 2004.

Diss.--Katholisch-Theologie Fakultät--Graz--Universität, 1996. / Bibliogr. p. 347-354. Index.

M.A. / This dissertation proposes a theory of forgiveness using the strategy of narrative reconstruction developed by Paul Ricoéur and the mimetic theory of René Girard. This Ricoéurian-Girardian theory of forgiveness is a theory of human subjectivity that includes an understanding of cultural and religious degeneration. It proposes three moments of forgiveness as uncertainty, distance, and humility that signify authentic subjectivity vis-à-vis the quasi-subject prone to violence. This theory of authentic subjectivity is established by a critical use of memory that re/configures narrative through a critical imagination. This theory of forgiveness is developed from the position of the victim/survivor of the traumatic wrong-doing.

Cette thèse propose un double dépassement de la théorie mimétique de René Girard. Le premier consiste à confronter la théorie mimétique à la psychologie de l’admiration et de l’envie, afin de montrer comment les comportements mimétiques procèdent essentiellement de ces deux émotions. Dès lors, le mimétisme ne doit plus être considéré comme une cause première du comportement humain mais comme une cause seconde, subordonnée à l’admiration ou à l’envie. Le second dépassement, plus radicale, consiste à proposer une théorie émotionnelle du comportement humain plus complète que la théorie mimétique, intégrant non seulement l’envie et l’admiration mais aussi la peur et la piété filiale. Il est alors possible de proposer une théorie émotionnelle du politique distinguant quatre types de rapports hiérarchiques : le pouvoir tyrannique fondé sur la peur, régnant par la menace et le châtiment et visant à la sécurité de tous, le pouvoir fascinant fondé sur l’envie, régnant par la séduction et la récompense et visant à la supériorité de tous, l’autorité vertueuse fondée sur l’admiration, régnant par l’exemplarité et la vertu et visant à l’excellence de tous ; et l’autorité pieuse fondée sur la piété filiale, régnant par la responsabilité et le don de soi et visant à la communion de tous. / This thesis suggests a double « overtaking » of the mimetic theory developed by René Girard. The first one consists of confronting mimetic theory with the help of the psychology of admiration and envy in order to show how mimetic behaviours proceed mainly from these two emotions. Consequently, mimetism cannot be considered as a primary cause of human behaviour but as a secondary cause, subject to admiration or envy. The second one is more radical. It consists of suggesting a theory of human behaviour more comprehensive than the mimetic theory based not only on admiration and envy but also on fear and filial piety. Based on this anthropology, it is possible to develop an emotional theory of politics, distinguishing four types of hierarchical relationships : the tyrannic power based on fear, governing by threat and punishment and aiming to ensure security to all ; the fascinating power based on envy, governing by seduction and rewards and aiming to ensure priviledges to all ; the virtuous authority based on admiration, governing by example and virtue and aiming to ensure excellence to all ; the pious authority, governing by responsability and self-giving and aiming to ensure communion to all.

Cette thèse a pour objectif de dégager les enjeux du discours identitaire dans le roman Les Inventés de Jean Pierre Girard (1999) et, plus largement, les modalités qui président aujourd'hui à l'expression d'une conversion profane en fonction de modèles narratifs hérités. Consacrée à l'appareil conceptuel, la première partie justifie l'usage des outils que la thèse emprunte à la sémiotique littéraire ; elle vise par ailleurs à dégager les caractères essentiels de la conversion à travers ses modalités d'expression en contexte narratif, sur la base des modèles paulinien et augustinien. La deuxième partie, qui étudie la dimension cognitive, aborde l'analyse du roman lui-même, en commençant par ouvrir une discussion à propos du concept de quête ; elle fait l'hypothèse des deux schémas de la fuite et de l'attente spirituelle, qui sont déterminants pour l'évolution du sujet, qu'il s'agisse pour lui de survivre ou de s'ouvrir à l'altérité. Cette deuxième partie conduit à l'examen des principes extérieurs, secondaires ou décisifs, c'est-à-dire des figures dont le rôle est plus ou moins déterminant, selon le cas, dans le processus de conversion. La troisième partie est vouée quant à elle à l'examen de la dimension passionnelle du parcours de François, à commencer par son passé douloureux, marqué par une constellation de pathèmes, notamment la haine, la rancune et la rage ; seront ainsi précisées les relations entre la colère et l'espérance. Enfin, l'étude du parcours de pré-conversion et de conversion du protagoniste permet de dégager, en même temps que la nature d'un sujet renouvelé, la passion de la générosité et ses différentes implications d'ordre éthique. La richesse signifiante particulière du roman Les Inventés favorise le déploiement du modèle d'analyse ici proposé, à la fois sur une base sémiotique et culturelle : s'il s'agit bien d'une nécessaire articulation des passions contemporaines, désormais dans un cadre sécularisé, - il s'agit aussi de la réactivation de schémas profondément inscrits dans la culture. L'ensemble, qui repose sur une réévaluation des relations entre littérature et spiritualité (en l'occurrence, profane), constitue une approche réutilisable pour de nombreux autres romans contemporains.

A partir de la fin du XIXe siècle, et notamment à travers les travaux de Richard Von Krafft-Ebing, de nouvelles représentations des perversions sexuelles humaines se mettent en place. La prise en compte de ces dynamiques dans l’homicide modifie les modes de classification des scènes de crime. Au XXe siècle, ces changements historiques conduisent à l’étude d’un phénomène rare et singulier : le meurtre sexuel sériel. Durant les années 1980, le F.B.I acquiert le monopole des savoirs et pratiques concernant la problématique des « serial killers ». De nos jours, ce monopole est remis en cause. Les profileurs du Bureau d’Investigation seraient les représentants d’une pratique pseudo-scientifique. Le serial killer serait avant tout une construction sociale initiée par la politique conservatrice des années Reagan. Selon certains psychiatres-psychanalystes, le F.B.I, en affirmant la place centrale des fantasmes sexuels dans la dynamique des crimes, aurait donné une image trompeuse du meurtre en série. A l’opposé, la présente étude entend démontrer que le principal enjeu n’est peut-être pas de déconstruire les discours du F.B.I, mais plutôt de confronter ces derniers à l’actualité des recherches scientifiques. Le profilage désignerait plutôt une méthode d’enquête dont les éléments de base sont susceptibles d’être corrigés et complétés. Sous cet angle, les modèles théoriques concurrents, notamment ceux défendus par la psychanalyse française, semblent également souffrir d’un certain nombre de difficultés. Certes, l’intensité des fantasmes sadiques ne peut pas être la seule dimension des actes criminels. Mais les fantasmes interagissent probablement avec les désirs et croyances des meurtriers. Si l’homicide sexuel sériel s’apparente, comme la plupart des commentateurs s’accordent à le dire, à une succession d’actes ritualisés, une approche anthropologique du phénomène pourrait avoir une certaine légitimité. Sous cet angle, des concepts tels que la psychopathie, la pulsion de mort ou l’omnipotence narcissique dissimulent peut-être l’existence d’un mécanisme victimaire à travers lequel les meurtriers engendrent leur propre religion ou mythologie. / From the late Nineteenth Century, in particular through Richard von Krafft-Ebing’s studies, new concepts have shaped the representations of sexual perversion. The study of the sexual dynamics in homicide cases changes the common methods of crime scene classification. In the Twentieth Century, these historical approaches lead to the study of a rare and particular phenomenon: serial sexual homicide. During the 1980s, the F.B.I dominates the field of practices and knowledge concerning the serial murder issue. Today, that domination is challenged. The F.B.I’s profiling methods are qualified as pseudo-scientific practice. Serial murder is nowadays more perceived as a simple social construction initiated by the Conservative politics of the Reagan years. According to some psychiatrists, the motivational model of the F.B.I has given a misleading picture of serial murder. The aim of the present work is to show that the main issue may not be to deconstruct the F.B.I’s studies, but to compare these first studies with current scientific research. Criminal profiling might be a method whose basic elements are likely to be corrected and completed. In this perspective, competing theoretical models, especially those held by psychoanalysis, also raise a number of difficulties. Of course, the intensity of sadistic fantasies can’t be the only dimension of criminal behavior. But fantasies probably interact with the desires and beliefs of the murderers. If serial sexual homicide appears to be, as most commentators agree, as a series of ritualistic acts, an anthropological approach may be legitimate. From this point of view, concepts such as “psychopathy”, “death drive” or “narcissism” do probably conceal the existence of a scapegoat mechanism by which killers are creating their own religion or mythology.