Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Shame is a Unique Solution to a Unique Problem

Shame is a Unique Solution to a Unique Problem

Last updated on: June 1, 2021 at 4:43 pm by Brad Vaughn

Shame is a Unique Solution to a Unique Problem 2021-05-14T02:06:56-07:00 Brad Vaughn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

When distinguishing guilt from shame, we can easily oversimplify what makes them different and not appreciate certain similarities. I began to make this point in Part 1 of this series. In this post, I want to add a few unique features of shame, compared to guilt, that are not only interesting but important.

A Unique Problem and Solution

An interesting feature of shame marks it distinct from guilt. Shame is “contagious.” Gregg Ten Elshof has a fantastic new book (called “For Shame”) coming out this summer in which he explains:

Shame and its opposite, honor, are contagious. Guilt and its opposite, innocence, are not. We talk about “guilt by association.” But, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as guilt by association.… you cannot be guilty for something someone else has done merely by means of your association with them. Guilt and innocence are inherently individualistic. They accrue to individuals as a consequence of what they (and only they) have done or failed to do. (86)

Of course, the nature of a problem will determine the nature of its solution. If I have a math problem, don’t give me a baking recipe to solve it. The same holds with shame and guilt. One can perhaps make amends for the wrong done (guilt), but how does one fix a person’s being bad? The remedy for guilt does little to affect the shame felt by shame experienced by victims of abuse and rape.

A far more comprehensive, seemingly impossible, task is required to undo the problem of shame.

Consider also one of the most common metaphors associated with shame –– impurity or uncleanness. In Unclean, Richard Beck says,

most sin categories are structured by metaphors that entail rehabilitation. But purity metaphors have no such entailments. Recall that contamination judgments are governed by the attribution of permanence. Once a foodstuff is judged to be polluted or contaminated nothing can be done to rehabilitate the situation. The fly in the soup ruins it. Consequently, when sins are structured by purity metaphors there is no obvious route to repentance. The metaphor only entails permanent defilement and ruin. (49).

In short, shame presents unique problems requiring a unique solution.

The Moral Power of Shame

But doesn’t guilt carry greater moral force? Does shame really have anything to do with morality? These are common questions I hear from people.

Teroni and Bruun give a detailed explanation why “there is no ground for regarding guilt as more ‘moral’ in any of these senses.” They summarize their conclusions in this way:

In relation to the moral quality of the action tendencies related to the two emotions, guilt may well be more closely correlated with a tendency to make up for wrongdoing. However, this is only a very narrow part of what can be considered morally valuable behaviour.

Shame in its prospective form helps avoid wrongdoing in the first place, and the self-regarding aspects of shame imply motivation to improve oneself that suggest a greater moral value for shame. In a word, guilt as it were only treats the symptoms of one’s moral defects; it is only concerned with the defects in our actions. The self-reforming tendencies associated with shame treat the cause; in shame we often focus on the faults in our character that dispose us to perform the misdeeds.

This aspect of shame is most apparent when we consider “Confucian shame,” or shame as a moral emotion. While feelings of guilt can be beneficial, they lack the potential moral force of shame to reform and direct our character.

I’ll close for now with a comment by John Rawls in his 1971 classic A Theory of Justice. Rawls says,

“In general, guilt, resentment, and indignation invoke the concepts of right, whereas shame, contempt, and derision appeal to the concept of goodness.”

Right versus goodness. Guilt versus shame. They don’t stand in opposition. There is much overlap between them. But they do appeal to different phenomena and shape us in different ways.

Previous Post

May 25, 2021

Distinguishing Guilt and Shame (Part 1)

Next Post

June 8, 2021 My EMS video presentation on contextualization

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement Biblical Theology Book Reviews China Chinese Church Chinese Culture Chinese Language Collectivism Contextualization Culture (General) Ecclesiology Evangelism Gospel Honor & Shame (Face) Interpretation/Exegesis Justification/Righteousness Missiology Mission Methods One Gospel for All Nations Other Practical Contextualization Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes Resources Romans Salvation (General) Saving God's Face Seeking God's Face The Cross in Context Theological Contextualization Theological Education Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What book comes directly after Lamentations?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hosea Daniel Jeremiah Ezekiel

Books by This Author Books by Brad Vaughn

See All Titles »