In this brilliant theological essay, Paul J. Griffiths takes the
reader through all the stages of regret. To various degrees, all
human beings experience regret. In this concise theological
grammar, Paul J. Griffiths analyzes this attitude toward the past
and distinguishes its various kinds. He examines attitudes
encapsulated in the phrase, "I would it were otherwise," including
regret, contrition, remorse, compunction, lament, and repentance.
By using literature (especially poetry) and Christian theology,
Griffiths shows both what is good about regret and what can be
destructive about it. Griffiths argues that on the one hand regret
can take the form of remorse-an agony produced by obsessive and
ceaseless examination of the errors, sins, and omissions of the
past. This kind of regret accomplishes nothing and produces only
pain. On the other hand, when regret is coupled with contrition and
genuine sorrow for past errors, it has the capacity both to
transfigure the past-which is never merely past-and to open the
future. Moreover, in thinking about the phenomenon of regret in the
context of Christian theology, Griffiths focuses especially on the
notion of the LORD's regret. Is it even reasonable to claim that
the LORD regrets? Griffiths shows not only that it is but also that
the LORD's regret should structure how we regret as human beings.
Griffiths investigates the work of Henry James, Emily Dickinson,
Tomas Transtroemer, Paul Celan, Jane Austen, George Herbert, and
Robert Frost to show how regret is not a negative feature of human
life but rather is essential for human flourishing and ultimately
is to be patterned on the LORD's regret. Regret: A Theology will be
of interest to scholars and students of philosophy, theology, and
literature, as well as to literate readers who want to understand
the phenomenon of regret more deeply.
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