"Misfortune and guilt—Christianity has placed these two things on a balance: so that, when misfortune consequent on guilt is great, even now the greatness of the guilt itself is consequently measured by it. ... The Greek tragedy, which speaks so much yet in so different a sense of misfortune and guilt, is a great liberator of the spirit in a way in which the ancients themselves could not feel. They were still so innocent as not to have established an ‘adequate relationship’ between guilt and misfortune. The guilt of their tragic heroes is, indeed, the little stone over which they stumble ... It was reserved for Christianity to say, “Here is a great misfortune and behind it must lie hidden a great, equally great, guilt, even though it may not be clearly visible!"
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The Dawn (book)
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