The intersection of philosophy and theology offers fertile ground for reimagining Christian concepts in ways that address the complexities of human existence. By synthesizing Vladimir Jankélévitch’s philosophy of forgiveness with Slavoj Žižek’s concept of the Real of the Cross, we can construct a theology of the Body of Christ that emphasizes radical love, material immanence, and the transformative power of forgiveness.
This article explores how these two thinkers, though operating in distinct intellectual traditions, can converge to offer a theology that reinterprets the Body of Christ as a communal, material, and ethically dynamic reality rooted in the event of the Cross.
Vladimir Jankélévitch’s Philosophy of Forgiveness
Vladimir Jankélévitch, a French philosopher deeply engaged with ethical questions in the wake of the Holocaust, offers a nuanced and profound understanding of forgiveness. For Jankélévitch, forgiveness is not a juridical act or a calculated exchange but a “supernatural” event that transcends moral and legal frameworks. In his works Pardonner? and Le Pardon, he argues that true forgiveness addresses the “inexpiable”—crimes so heinous, like those of the Nazis, that they defy rational justification or retribution.
Forgiveness, in this sense, is not about erasing the past or excusing the perpetrator but about an unmotivated, gracious act that emerges from the victim’s freedom. As he writes, “Unmotivated forgiving forgives the inexcusable; in that lies its proper function” .Jankélévitch’s forgiveness is an event, not a process. It is spontaneous, unmeditated, and irreducible to utilitarian motives like reconciliation or closure. He likens it to a “halo around a strict morality,” an opening in a closed system that allows for a new beginning .
This conception of forgiveness aligns with the Christian notion of grace, yet Jankélévitch grounds it in a secular, ethical spontaneity that resists institutional or dogmatic capture. For him, forgiveness is a singular act of love that interrupts the cycle of resentment and retribution, creating a space for ethical renewal.
Slavoj Žižek’s Real of the Cross
Slavoj Žižek, the Slovenian philosopher and cultural theorist, approaches Christianity through a materialist and psychoanalytic lens, particularly in works like The Puppet and the Dwarf and Christian Atheism. Central to his theology is the concept of the Real of the Cross, which he derives from Lacanian psychoanalysis and Hegelian dialectics. For Žižek, the Real is not a transcendent truth but the traumatic, irreducible void at the heart of existence—the gap that disrupts symbolic meaning and exposes the contingency of reality.
The Cross, in Žižek’s reading, is the ultimate manifestation of this Real: the moment when God, in the person of Christ, experiences absolute abandonment and dies, revealing the impotence of the “big Other” (the guarantee of cosmic meaning or divine order).
Žižek argues that Christ’s cry of dereliction—“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”—marks the death of God as a transcendent guarantor, leaving humanity to confront the void of meaning . This event is not a prelude to resurrection as traditionally understood but a radical kenosis, where God empties Himself into the material world, becoming fully immanent in human finitude.
For Žižek, the Holy Spirit is not a divine person but the “emancipatory community” of believers who, in the wake of this void, take up the task of creating meaning and justice through collective action . The Real of the Cross, then, is both a scandal and a liberation: it dismantles illusions of divine omnipotence and calls for a materialist politics of love and sacrifice.
The Body of Christ as a Theological Synthesis
The Body of Christ, a central Christian concept, traditionally refers to the Church as the communal embodiment of Christ’s presence, sustained by the Eucharist and animated by the Holy Spirit. By combining Jankélévitch’s forgiveness and Žižek’s Real of the Cross, we can reimagine the Body of Christ as a dynamic, material, and ethical reality that emerges from the interplay of forgiveness and the traumatic truth of the Cross.
This theology emphasizes three key dimensions: the communal, the material, and the ethical.
1. The Communal Dimension: Forgiveness as the Bond of the BodyJankélévitch’s forgiveness, with its emphasis on spontaneity and grace, provides a framework for understanding the Body of Christ as a community bound by acts of radical love. In traditional theology, the Church is united through participation in the Eucharist, which signifies Christ’s sacrifice and forgiveness of sins. Jankélévitch’s forgiveness, however, radicalizes this idea by framing forgiveness as an unmotivated gift that transcends moral calculus. In the Body of Christ, forgiveness becomes the glue that holds the community together, not as a response to repentance but as a proactive act of love that mirrors Christ’s self-emptying on the Cross.Žižek’s concept of the Holy Spirit as the “emancipatory community” complements this view. For Žižek, the death of God on the Cross transfers divine responsibility to the human community, which must now embody the Spirit through collective action . By integrating Jankélévitch’s forgiveness, we can see this community as one that practices forgiveness as a revolutionary act, breaking cycles of vengeance and creating a space for new ethical possibilities. The Body of Christ, in this sense, is not a static institution but a living, dynamic community that continually reenacts the grace of forgiveness in response to the Real of human suffering and division.
2. The Material Dimension: The Real of the Cross and Immanence
Žižek’s insistence on the material immanence of the Cross challenges traditional notions of the Body of Christ as a mystical or transcendent entity. For Žižek, the Cross reveals God’s complete identification with human finitude, stripping away illusions of a transcendent “big Other” . The Body of Christ, therefore, is not a spiritual abstraction but a material reality—a community of bodies marked by vulnerability, suffering, and the struggle for justice. This aligns with Žižek’s broader materialist theology, which rejects Gnostic dualisms and emphasizes the “excremental identity” of humanity as fully embedded in the world .Jankélévitch’s forgiveness, while not explicitly materialist, resonates with this perspective through its focus on the event-like quality of ethical acts. Forgiveness, for Jankélévitch, is not an abstract principle but a concrete act that transforms relationships in the here and now. In the context of the Body of Christ, forgiveness becomes a material practice that responds to the Real of the Cross—the traumatic reality of suffering, betrayal, and abandonment. By forgiving the inexpiable, the Body of Christ embodies the kenotic love of Christ, making the divine immanent in acts of compassion and solidarity.
3. The Ethical Dimension: Forgiveness and the Politics of the Cross
The synthesis of Jankélévitch and Žižek yields an ethical vision for the Body of Christ that is both theological and political. Žižek’s Real of the Cross calls for a politics of emancipation, where the community of believers, as the Holy Spirit, takes responsibility for creating justice in a godless world . This aligns with Jankélévitch’s view of forgiveness as an ethical interruption that opens new possibilities for human relations. Together, they suggest that the Body of Christ is a community that practices a politics of forgiveness—a radical commitment to love and justice in the face of the inexpiable.This ethical stance is particularly relevant in addressing historical and contemporary traumas, such as the Holocaust, systemic racism, or global inequality. Jankélévitch’s insistence on forgiving the inexcusable challenges the Body of Christ to confront these traumas without resorting to cheap reconciliation or denial. Žižek’s materialist theology, meanwhile, grounds this forgiveness in a collective struggle for emancipation, ensuring that it is not merely a personal act but a communal and political one. The Body of Christ, in this theology, becomes a site of resistance against nihilism and despair, embodying the hope of a new world through acts of forgiveness and solidarity.Toward a Theology of the Body of ChristThe theology of the Body of Christ that emerges from combining Jankélévitch’s forgiveness and Žižek’s Real of the Cross is one of radical immanence, communal grace, and ethical transformation. It reimagines the Church not as a hierarchical institution but as a community of forgiveness, animated by the Spirit and rooted in the material reality of the Cross. This theology challenges Christians to embody Christ’s kenotic love through acts of unmotivated forgiveness, confronting the Real of human suffering with courage and hope.By drawing on Jankélévitch’s ethical spontaneity and Žižek’s materialist provocation, this theology offers a vision of the Body of Christ that is both deeply Christian and profoundly relevant to a world marked by trauma and division. It calls for a community that dares to forgive the unforgivable, to embrace the void of the Cross, and to build a world where love and justice prevail. In doing so, it fulfills the promise of the Body of Christ as the living presence of God in the world—not as a transcendent ideal, but as a material, communal, and ethical reality.
