rättfärdigande

Rättfärdigande is a Swedish term that denotes the act or process of making or declaring someone righteous. The word is formed from rättfärdig ('righteous') and the participle suffix -ande. In general usage the term can refer to legal, ethical, or theological justification—the reasons or declarations that render an action, belief, or person acceptable or right.

In legal and moral-philosophical contexts, rättfärdigande may denote the justification of conduct or of belief: providing a defense that an action was lawful or excusable, or offering reasons and evidence that support a belief as justified. In this sense, it is closely related to terms such as defense, excuse, or warrant.

In Christian theology, rättfärdigande refers to the doctrine of justification: the act of God declaring a sinner righteous, typically through faith. Central in many Protestant traditions, justification is contrasted with sanctification, the ongoing process of moral transformation. The debate often centers on whether righteousness is imputed to the believer (acquired by faith apart from works) or infused through divine grace and cooperation with grace, as in certain Catholic views, with various Anglican positions in between.

Because of its different senses, the term is used across legal, philosophical, and theological writings in Swedish, and its precise meaning depends on context.