Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam > Blaise Pascal Instituut > Girard Studiekring > COV&R 2007 > Abstracts Papers 

José Fernando Castrillón Restrepo

The strength of the death man: the reconciliation on the way to Damascus (Acts 9:1-19)

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ABSTRACT

The reconciliation’s difficulties are focused on the strength of violence and death.  They seems to have the “last word”, because of the fact after death there is nothing to wait and people are afraid before them.  So, when anybody is killed, this person lost his dignity and value as subject, the retaliation with the killer seems to be the only one answer for dead man’s friends and family.  Besides, the dead man doesn’t mean anything for the killer, precisely because he is dead, so he isn’t a subject.   

Those kind of thoughts are created by a mythical narrative related with an individual and temporary comprehension about the subject and the life.  A person is subject only when he is alive in this world, furthermore when a person dies he lost all the subject’s characteristics, for example, as the power to discuss and confront to the killer.  

In this sense, the Saul’s conversion in the way to Damascus consists in a broad comprehension of  subject given by the risen victim (Jesus), that reveals our comprehension of inter-subjective ties are very weak in the societies because they are related only with the temporary life of the person.  This is evident specially in cases related with extreme situations –as the murder-.

This passage written in an eschatological perspective, reveals something about Jesus Christ’s comprehension about men and the world that allow us to realize of new kind of relationships not circumscribed to the temporary life of persons and, therefore, giving new elements of mimetic non-acquisitive and nonviolent imitation.    

Jesus shows us the reconciliation is only possible when death’s strength over the human beings, related with the human afraid to die, is defeated by him. In the passage the resurrected Crucified shows Saul the real dignity of the victim, being a victim who deny the death as the last word in the world. A dead man who has all the dignity as subject: he has the power to discuss and confront Saul’s murderous actions.   

So, in the way to Damascus, Jesus Christ reveals a new kind of relationships that exceed the historical time of people through the presence and dialogue between victim and the murderer.  Then, the consequence is Saul’s conversion.

It means, while the death’s slavery implies the mimetic desires are oriented to create relationships of competence and survival by exclusion, Saul’s relationships with the others will be inspired in mimetic  following of Jesus, defeating the death’s power by forgiveness and love of enemies.

Links pages:

http://espanol.geocities.com/ecoteo1/ This is a the page of a team of Pontifical Javeriana University’s teachers related with Rene Girard’s studies in our classes and researches.

http://mundojoseteoantrocultural.blogspot.com/ My personal blog related with biblical subjects of violence  and nonviolence.