Update:
View my review of this book here. See also my review of N. T. Wright’s Evil and the Justice of God for a suggested synthesis with Brauns’s work here.
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As many believing bloggers know, Tim Challies has an excellent site where he offers objective, biblically informed reviews of the latest in Christian literature.
The review of Unpacking Forgiveness especially got my attention because of this paragraph:
[The author] offers teaching on forgiveness that counters much of the mainstream of Evangelical thought. Nowhere is this shown more clearly than in his discussion about the conditional nature of forgiveness. Where we are accustomed to Christians “forgiving” any and everyone, perhaps standing outside the scene of a school shooting with signs saying, “We forgive you,” [the author] shows that this is not true forgiveness in a biblical sense. He distinguishes between a kind of therapeutic forgiveness that may make us feel better, and a genuine forgiveness that actually brings about reconciliation.
What piqued my interests is that, for a long time now, I have believed essentially the same thing about granting forgiveness. It is not to be offered free of charge or unconditionally. Instead, forgiveness costs the offender something. Scripture requires the offending party do something first before forgiveness is offered. After all, granting forgiveness without repentance does nothing for the offending party, but only helps me cope with the hurt of the offense. If forgiveness is granted to the offender, then isn’t forgiveness for the offender, as well as for me?
Practically every time I have shared my convictions on this, they are met with considerable resistance. Dissenting believers insist that we must grant forgiveness to others unconditionally. But must we?
John Stott writes:
“We are to rebuke a brother if he sins against us; we are to forgive him if he repents — and only if he repents. We must beware of cheapening forgiveness. . . . If a brother who has sinned against us refuses to repent, we should not forgive him. Does this startle you? It is what Jesus taught. . . . ‘Forgiveness’ includes restoration to fellowship. If we can restore to full and intimate fellowship with ourselves a sinning and unrepentant brother, we reveal not the depth of our love but its shallowness.”
(Confess Your Sins: The Way of Reconciliation, p. 35)
Consider the following texts that speak of some kind of condition that must be fulfilled before forgiveness is granted:
Luke 17:3
If a brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.
Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
What do you think? Have I been misguided all these years for believing that repentance is a necessary condition for granting forgiveness to those who sin against me? Should I forgive those who sin against me but continue in their unrepentant state, even if they do not ask for forgiveness? How exactly can an unrepentant offender be reconciled? We’re told to “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32), but exactly what are the conditions, if any, from which God forgave me?
Before you answer, however, read Justin Taylor’s post Governor Ryan, the Willis Family, and the Pursuit of Biblical Forgiveness for a real-life example of what I’m addressing here.
[Caveat: I have not yet read Unpacking Forgiveness but plan to do so…someday.]
Of course, I agree. . .
Your position usually meets a couple of objections. The first is, if we don’t forgive everyone, then we will be controlled by bitterness. This response is misguided in its definition of forgiveness. As I say in Unpacking Forgiveness, forgiveness is “more than a feeling.”
Second, people respond, “Didn’t Jesus forgive his killers on the Cross.” That certainly was a prayer that Jesus prayed. However, it was not the granting of forgiveness. Jesus was not issuing some sort of absolution.
Your journey is similar to mine. Over a several year period, I thought through some of the simplistic teaching on forgiveness and realized it is not biblical. Many well intentioned Christians have said some very non-biblical things in the context of the forgiveness discussion.
An article I wrote post-Virginia Tech summarizes some of what I think the Bible teaches, where Unpacking Forgiveness is a more comprehensive discussion. See http://www.chrisbrauns.com/2007/05/05/forgiveness-and-virginia-tech/
You might also be interested in “The Forgiveness Quiz,” which is adapted from the first chapter of Unpacking Forgiveness.
http://www.chrisbrauns.com/take-the-forgiveness-quiz/
Hey Chris…how kind of you to chime in here. It’s an honor to have an author post on a post about them!
I’ll be sure to take a look at the article mentioned and the quiz. Thanks!
Without doubt when sharing my understanding on forgiveness the predominate criticism I’ve received is the potential bitterness in the heart of the offended. The logic goes something like: We must forgive else we will become bitter.
While it’s certainly important for us not to allow bitterness and anger and resentment to fester while forgiveness is withheld, we do a grave disservice to the offender when forgiveness if granted without the requisite repentance. The focus is often skewed far too much in the direction of the offended party and misses the point of who forgiveness is intended for; namely, the offender. This is not to say forgiveness does nothing for the offended, but leaving out the conditions for offering forgiveness helps no one in the mix and can only hurt everyone in the long run. Moreover, I would argue that the offended could be complicit in the offender’s guilt if forgiveness is offered too hastily, which only muddies the ethical waters!
I do look forward to reading your book and pray it gets a wide reading!
I look forward to hearing what you think!
Chris:
I received your book in the mail today and will begin reading soon.
By the way, you may be interested in my post I Will Remember Your Sins No More.
Cheers,
Paul