Ingratitude,Holy and Otherwise: An Exploration of Gratitude and Its Abuses

Abstract

This article examines ingratitude as a neglected but ethically and theologically significant category. While gratitude is commonly praised as a virtue central to personal flourishing and social cohesion, its inverse has received far less sustained attention. Drawing on philosophical accounts of gift and reciprocity, Christian scripture, and modern political theology, the paper argues that ingratitude cannot be understood univocally as vice. Instead, it functions as either sin or virtue depending on its object and context. After outlining the classical “circle of reciprocity” governing gift-giving, the article introduces the notion of “holy ingratitude” in the teachings of Jesus and the Apostle Paul, showing how early Christianity disrupted Greco-Roman systems of obligation by redirecting gratitude toward God alone. This disruption freed givers and recipients from social debt, honor competition, and worthiness criteria. The paper then contrasts holy ingratitude with sinful ingratitude through the work of Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth, both of whom identify ingratitude toward God as a fundamental moral failure. Finally, drawing on Edward Said's critique of the Oslo peace process, the article demonstrates how gratitude can be weaponized under conditions of domination, where coerced thankfulness legitimates injustice and renders ingratitude an ethically necessary refusal.