As it seems to happen with theses, refining the argument is pretty much the last thing to fall into place. So, here is an attempt to get the crucial paragraph in the introductory chapter really right. Hmmm...This dissertation asks: what kind of self is the Christian martyr? – and by doing so, seeks also to critique existing concepts of selfhood and identity. What are the implications for human identity of Christian martyrdom? Confessing ‘I am a Christian’, as the martyrs do, is also a refusal to accept alternative construals of one’s identity. It is a refusal to make or discover one’s own meaning through (for example) security, pleasure, power, action, nationhood, ethnicity, or honour. Rather, in the midst of a world in which the human individual is under threat of disintegration, it is an offering of one’s self up to the providence of God. This is learned from and empowered by the life, death, resurrection and promised return of Jesus Christ. As such, the martyred self offers a sharp appraisal of other forms of self-making.
3 comments:
Oh you've got martyrdom all wrong...
Just kidding! Looks great!
Without knowing the distinction between self(hood) and identity, this nevertheless reads much more clearly and is much more focussed than some of your early thinking aloud posts about your thesis that I remember.
FWIW
Yes, I am using self(hood) and identity more or less interchangeably. Perhaps I should be more clear even about these.
I am encouraged that progress is discernible!!
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