Ancient Forgiveness: Classical, Judaic, and Christian

by Charles L. Griswold Jr. (Editor), David Konstan (Editor)

In this book, eminent scholars of classical antiquity and ancient and medieval Judaism and Christianity explore the nature and place of forgiveness in the pre-modern Western world. They discuss whether the concept of forgiveness, as it is often understood today, was absent, or at all events more restricted in scope than has been commonly supposed, and what related ideas (such as clemency or reconciliation) may have taken the place of forgiveness. An introductory chapter reviews the conceptual territory of forgiveness and illuminates the potential breadth of the idea, enumerating the important questions a theory of the subject should explore. The following chapters examine forgiveness in the contexts of classical Greece and Rome; the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, and Moses Maimonides; and the New Testament, the Church Fathers, and Thomas Aquinas.

278 pages, Hardcover

First published November 30, 2011

About the author

Before coming to Boston University in 1991, Charles Griswold taught at Howard University. He has held visiting appointments at the Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (2004) and Yale University (1996, as Olmsted Visiting Professor). His teaching and research address various themes, figures, and historical periods.

Reviews

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good anthology, but way overpriced. Worth checking out on interlibrary loan, mainly for the essays by Adam Morton ("What Is Forgiveness?"), Ilaria L. E. Ramelli ("Forgiveness in Patristic Philosophy"), and Jonathan Jacobs ("Forgiveness and Perfection: Maimonides, Aquinas, and Medieval Departures From Aristotle").

Many of the articles shadow box with unspecified advocates of unilateral, unconditional forgiveness (allegedly everywhere but apparently not worth quoting or citing by name). Books on forgiveness by Charles Griswold alone and by Anthony Bash are much more insightful.