Forgiveness

“This work redefines forgiveness as the modest yet heroic ability to hold pain and anger together with hope and nonviolence.” —Joie Szu-Chiao Chen, Lion’s RoarMatthew Ichihashi Potts explores the complex moral terrain of forgiveness, which he claims has too often served as a salve to the conscience of power rather than as an instrument of healing or justice. Though forgiveness is often linked with reconciliation or the abatement of anger, Potts asserts instead that forgiveness is simply the refusal of retaliatory violence through practices of penitence and grief. It is an act of mourning irrevocable wrong, of refusing the false promises of violent redemption, and of living in and with the losses we cannot recover.Drawing on novels by Kazuo Ishiguro, Marilynne Robinson, Louise Erdrich, and Toni Morrison, and on texts from the early Christian to the postmodern, Potts diagnoses the real dangers of forgiveness yet insists upon its enduring promise. Sensitive to the twenty-first-century realities of economic inequality, colonial devastation, and racial strife, and considering the role of forgiveness in the New Testament, the Christian tradition, philosophy, and contemporary literature, this book “heralds the arrival of a new and creative theological voice.” (Englewood Review of Books, “Ten Theology Books to Watch For”).

“A truly original work.” —Kazusa Okaya, Themelios

“Potts layers, illuminates, and unpacks multiple meanings of forgiveness through philosophical, literary, and theological themes.” —Peter Admirand, Philosophy in Review

“A rich and rewarding text.” —Stephen Cherry, Church Times

“Potts brings a fresh vision to forgiveness.” —Nick Ripatrazone, Catholic Herald

“Brilliant.” —Christian Century

“A compelling apologia for forgiveness, it takes seriously and yet disarms many current-day critiques of forgiveness.” —Lauren Winner, Duke University