[Forgiven and Forgiving] [Author: Countryman, L. William] [January, 2009]

by L. William Countryman

Only the strong can forgive. God, who is strongest, forgives best", writes Dr. L. Wm. Countryman in this fresh look at forgiveness. Unlike most books on the subject, Forgiven and Forgiving is not about a step-by-step process. Rather it is about conversion. Once we truly understand the depths of God's love for us and know deep-down that we are forgiven, we begin to see the world anew through God's eyes. Only when we are able to accept God's forgiveness for ourselves can we offer forgiveness to others.

Genres: Theology, Spirituality

Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

About the author

Bill Countryman is a retired seminary professor and Episcopal priest (still assisting at Good Shepherd Church in Berkeley, CA). He and his spouse, Jon Vieira, live in Oakland, CA, where he tends the garden and writes mostly poetry these days.

I'm a lover of poetry, classical music (with a particular fondness for choral and chamber music and for late-ninteenth-early-twentieth-century orchestral music. I spread my reading broadly: poetry, fiction, history, theology.

And I blog on gardening, reading the Scriptures, and whatever else interests me at billcountryman.com.

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been impressed with Countryman's books and I found this one very helpful on the issue of forgiveness. I liked the ideas that forgiveness is not the same things as reconciliation and that we will always carry the hurts forward with us but they can be stumbling blocks or building blocks, depending on what we do with them. Forgiveness is the way to turn the wrongs into building blocks of the future.

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a horrible book. I just didn’t connect with it a lot. There were a few moments I did like when he writes about emotions and our ill advised attempts not to feel them. But for the most part it felt like he introduced interesting aspects of forgiveness only to ramble on in a rather disorganized way about it. For the topic of forgiveness I’d rather reread Free of Charge by Miroslav Volf.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life giving approach to forgiveness. It is good news!

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite passages in the bible is the one about the rain falling on both the good and the bad. For me, this book is excellent because it encouraged my instinct that the right point of view for me is God's bigger view point where love causes the rain to fall on everybody. The author --- Mr. Countryman? Father Countryman? --- helped me to grasp the imperative of forgiveness in this context. He emphasized that we are working to be citizens of the future kingdom and that the present and the future are the significant times. Dwelling on the past does not cause joy and is not productive for me or for my fellow citizens.

This book gets four stars instead of five because of its style. It was a hard read for me because I think the author is repetitive and circular. He repeats his points as if he were preaching. I'm not used to this in a book. So, I keep wondering if I'm missing something because of all the verbiage. I think I would have appreciated a more straightforward approach.

[Jonathan Frazier]

234.5