Beyond the Sacrificial Fantasy: Body, Law, and Desire

IF 0.3 0 RELIGION

Open Theology Pub Date : 2024-07-09 DOI:10.1515/opth-2024-0012

Isabella Guanzini

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Abstract

From its origins, the Christian religious imaginary has been inhabited by the sacrificial fantasy, which finds its most radical symbol in the crucified body. According to the principle of imitatio Jesu, believers have always been called to consider pain as an experience to be lived and shared with Christ, to be offered to him as a gift of self to the Other. Already the masters of suspicion condemned this ascetic-religious cult of sacrifice and showed its dehumanizing and superegoic side, characterized by the violence of abuse, authoritarianism, submission, and above all the denial of life. However, this beneficial and liberating critique has removed the donative and not merely alienating aspect not of the sacrificial body, but of the symbolic sacrifice. Starting from a close dialogue between systematic theology and (Lacanian) psychoanalysis, this contribution aims to question both the sacrificial (religious) fantasy in its alienating character and the equally superegoic drive of the imperative of unlimited enjoyment as a reaction to any kind of symbolic limitation. Against this background, an attempt will be made to think of a form of sacrifice that follows the logic of the gift (of the body), without being subjected to a logic of alienating exchange.

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超越献祭幻想：身体、法律与欲望

基督教的宗教想象从一开始就充满了牺牲的幻想，其最根本的象征就是被钉在十字架上的身体。根据 "效法耶稣"（imitatio Jesu）的原则，信徒们一直被要求将痛苦视为一种与基督共同生活和分享的经历，并将其作为自我献给他者的礼物。怀疑论大师们早已谴责了这种苦行僧式的牺牲宗教崇拜，并揭示了其非人化和超我的一面，其特点是暴力虐待、专制、屈从，尤其是对生命的否定。然而，这种有益的、解放性的批判消除的不仅仅是献祭身体的捐献性和异化性，而是象征性献祭的一面。从系统神学与（拉康式）精神分析之间的密切对话出发，这篇论文旨在质疑牺牲性（宗教）幻想的异化特征，以及作为对任何一种象征性限制的反应的无限享受的必要性这一同样超我的驱动力。在此背景下，我们将尝试思考一种牺牲形式，它遵循（身体的）馈赠逻辑，而不受制于异化交换逻辑。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Open Theology RELIGION-

CiteScore

1.00

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

15 weeks

期刊介绍： Open Theology is an international Open Access, peer-reviewed academic journal that welcomes contributions written in English addressing religion in its various forms and aspects: historical, theological, sociological, psychological, and other. The journal encompasses all major disciplines of Theology and Religious Studies, presenting doctrine, history, organization and everyday life of various types of religious groups and the relations between them. We publish articles from the field of Theology as well as Philosophy, Sociology and Psychology of Religion and also dialogue between Religion and Science. The Open Theology does not present views of any particular theological school nor of a particular religious organization. The contributions are written by researchers who represent different religious views. The authors present their research concerning the old religious traditions as well as new religious movements. The aim of the journal is to promote an international and interdisciplinary dialogue in the field of Theology and Religious Studies. The journal seeks also to provide researchers, pastors and other interested persons with the fruits of academic studies.