Courage of Faith

«The only true ‘profile’ that can be drawn.» The aim of this book is to analyse and interpret the inside significance of Dag Hammarskjöld’s profile and way in quest of negotiated peace, reconciliation and meaning. Dag Hammarskjöld, UN Secretary-General from 1953 to 1961, disclosed in Vägmärken (Markings) his inner negotiations with himself and with God. Rival interpretations of his dialectic of action, doubt and search for meaning require arbitration through the hermeneutics of Paul Ricœur. Three purposes in the light of archive documentation of Dag Hammarskjöld’s Papers are investigated: First the existential-ontological dimension: courage of faith for an ecumenical view of life for negotiated peace, truth and reconciliation during a secularized era for ethical and spiritual values. The second aspect is Hammarskjöld’s negotiated God-talk. Five elements including meditations on the mystery of Christ. Finally, the author shows that the normative-ethical problem concerns his straight path praxis for human rights and a diplomacy of reconciliation.