This study of the former secretary-general of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld’s Vägmärken (“Markings” or “Waymarks”) explores the influence of Meister Eckhart von Hocheim’s doctrine of the eternal birth in the formation of a life stance within Vägmärken. Hammarskjöld himself singles out this particular doctrine as being of paramount importance for his life, however without any explicit comments on the nature of the influence of this doctrine on his thinking. The purpose of this essay is therefore to discern and reveal the subtle ways in which the doctrine of the eternal birth is rendered and reflected in Vägmärken. A hermeneutic method of thematical close reading and a circular oscillating discussion of chosen passages of Vägmärken in relation to an account of the doctrine of the eternal birth, is employed in that attempt. The findings of this essay suggest the prominence, in Hammarskjölds thinking, of the idea of the eternal birth in the human soul as conveyed by the eckhartian metaphor of the chalice, which is emptied in order to be refilled by God with God’s own divinity through His word, which issues forth from the profound, dark and tranquil inner depths of the individual human soul. The findings are also related to the concept of bildung.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hj-65015 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Westerdahl, Henrik |
| Publisher | Jönköping University, Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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