Rediscovering the Power of Repentance and Forgiveness

by Leah Coulter

There is something deep within the heart of every man and woman that longs to see justice prevail. But what about when injustices are committed against us? How do we move forward? Can we really just forgive and forget? Through a thorough examination of biblical teaching on forgiveness within the context of ancient Jewish culture, Dr. Leah Coulter dispels the notion that forgiveness is a one-way street. She explains the true depth of forgiveness and the freedom that results in a genuine heart of repentance. With personal stories and other examples, she gives readers a pathway to repentance and forgiveness, as well as showing them how to find healing and justice when they have been wronged by someone who has not repented.

176 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2006

Reviews

[slaveofone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little book challenges conventional theological concepts about forgiveness and repentance by linking our relationship with God to our relationship with people. If we have sinned against someone or have been sinned against, there is a relational rift between both heavenly and earthly realms that cannot be mended with a simple prayer or by forgiving and forgetting. For us to be in right relationship with God, there should be reconciliation and restitution (to whatever extent possible) between the doer of the wrong and the one wronged. By seeking repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, and restitution horizontally between us and others as well as vertically between us and God, we will keep those commandments by which every other is met and fulfilled: to love the Lord thy God and to love thy neighbor. I was thrilled to see Yeshua's command to rebuke the offender of his sin championed. Interaction between believers is of primary concern. Wrongs between those who believe and those who don't receive little mention except to say that not only will YHWH avenge the wrong and seek recompense for injustice, but that the believer should return love to nonbelieving offenders in hopes it might lead to their repentance or salvation.[return:][return:]The book is faulted by a lack of historical, sociological, and scholastic depth. Endnotes total 23 and are scarcely more than references to dime store dictionaries, Christian bookstore commentaries, and works of her mentor. Biblical texts and their contexts are treated uncritically, building arguments on isolated grammatical constructions, suspect translations, and by reductionistically lumping texts together into a single, holistic voice through the abandonment of important questions such as individual providences, differences in authorial/editorial perspective, and literary or narrative distinctions. Past culture and ideology is shoehorned into Modernity via some magical kind of universalized ethic. Besides trying to uncover this arbitrary biblical view of repentance and forgiveness, the author likewise erases subversions, re-interpretations, or divergences between Torah, Yeshua, and their respective followers. In terms of reading, the manuscript was plagued with numerous editorial errors and the author repeated basic concepts so often that not only did I lose interest every now and again, but it almost seemed as if she were required to fill a page count.[return:][return:]At the end, I was still perplexed about one thing. If someone sinned against another and was never given the chance to repent because they never knew they offended and/or the other never gave them a chance to repent, the book seems to imply that YHWH will still hold that person accountable for their sin and will avenge their wrong against the other. But what would that look like? What does it mean, practically or experientially speaking, for YHWH to hold someone accountable for their sins against another? And would it be just to do so if that person was never given an opportunity to repent?

[Philippa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Steve Robbins'(director of VLI) recommendation. Really good book on the subject!