Rethinking Christian Forgiveness

Theological, Philosophical, and Psychological Explorations

Is there such a thing as “Christian Forgiveness”? Christians speak as though there is. But what would it be? How would it differ from forgiveness as a basic human enactment? And if there is a distinctive Christian forgiveness, what might it have to say to our world today?  To answer these questions, the present work traverses three distinctive intellectual landscapes—continental philosophy, Anglo-American moral philosophy, and psychology—to establish a phenomenology of forgiving before turning to contemporary Christian literature. The multilayered dialogue that ensues challenges the assumptions of contemporary approaches—secular and Christian—and invites the reader to rethink the meaning of Christian forgiveness.