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Forgiveness: An Alternative Account
A deeply researched and poignant reflection on the practice of forgiveness in an unforgiving world
In this sensitive and probing book, Matthew 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 resists these associations, asserting 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 era, 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.
In this sensitive and probing book, Matthew 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 resists these associations, asserting 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 era, 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.
283 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 22, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
December 30, 2022
There’s a lot to like about this book, I do wish it were more accessible. It seems to be written more for an academic audience than everyday people.
December 15, 2022
Forgiveness is the necessary bridge over troubled waters. It is the glue for broken relationships. It is the essence of human relationships. Yet, when the pains inflicted defy the theories of forgiveness, that becomes a totally different thing. "Why forgive?" becomes "Why me?" For deep hurts, it might even lead to "Why Should I Forgive?" It has been said that it is hard for people to say that they are sorry. While that might be true for prideful people, it might even be more so for people who have been deeply hurt. There are many types of hurt. There are many different ways to respond to hurt. There are also many different reasons why people find it hard to forgive even when it is essential. Some think that forgiveness is just about forgetting all that has been done. Some take the theological angle that our forgiveness ought to reflect that of Christ. Unfortunately, that can be misguided in the sense that it forgets our humanness. Yes, we are called to be divine but we are also human, needing help from day to day. I suppose the end is clear we need to forgive just like Christ. It is the process that is the problem. This is where Potts's book is helpful. It presents a human side of how we can eventually forgive honestly and meaningfully. More importantly, we need Christ in order to fully forgive.
When studying the Scriptures on forgiveness, scholars often parse and analyze the different words or wordings to derive some distinctiveness of all. The argument is that the ancient biblical languages carry a lot more nuances compared to our modern English which is relatively weaker in storing meaning. The author takes a different approach and prefers to take the word forgiveness as is, and in his own words, "for granted." His purpose is simply to articulate the meaning of forgiveness as commonly understood by the layperson. He also sees his approach as a form of "defense" for not conforming to the conventional ways of understanding forgiveness. This sets the stage for an "alternative account" that handles both the pain and the freedom of forgiveness with sensitivity. He points out a few "nots" about forgiveness. It is not about feelings, not reconciliation, not immediate, and definitely not about forgetting everything that has happened. This is simply a kind of forgiveness shrouded in mourning. It grieves about the need to resist any form of retaliation. It is about living with constant restraint. It is the understanding that even with forgiveness, reconciliation may not be full. The desire to start afresh might be there but the scars forever remain. By linking the acts of forgiveness to mourning, Potts recognizes both the need to forgive and also the honesty behind every forgiveness entails. It asks what it means to be human as we learn to forgive.
Potts enlists the help of four contemporary writers to establish his thesis on forgiveness amid a moral dilemma. They are all selected because they deal with the grieving process of forgiveness, and the need to forgive while journeying through a deep valley of hurt. How do we live with the loss as we progress into the future? Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Buried Giant" raises difficult questions like how any act of forgetting might lead to a loss of personal identity if we suppress or forget any memory of the past. He poses the issue of sin and justice. What if there is no good reason to forgive? What if there was nothing to forgive in the first place? The point is, while forgiveness is the morally right thing to do, is possible, especially with the perpetrator unrepentant? We can forgive someone from the head but when it comes to matters of the heart, it might be a totally different domain altogether. Forgiveness is thus a process of loss and love, of resisting the want to retaliate. It is a tricky passage of personal meandering through the forests of forgetting, forgiving, and freeing.
Chapter Two deals with the role of forgetting and its relation to repentance. Using Marilynne Robinson's Gilead and an interpretation of the parable of the Prodigal Son, Potts asserts that a common memory of the hurt is a necessary part of human forgiveness. It is a complex interchange of the desire to forgive others for their offenses and also the need for forgiveness for one's iniquities. It wrestles with the morality to refuse to kill in the midst of injustice versus the morality to kill to uphold justice. Chapter Three begins the process of recovery from the valley. Extending the scope of forgiveness from personal to families in multiple generations, Potts reflects on Louise Erdrich's novel, "LaRose" about the themes of justice, vengeance, forgiveness, and atonement. In Chapter Four, Potts drives home his understanding of forgiveness as mourning with a reflection on Toni Morrison's "Beloved" to link memory not with forgetting nor retaliating, but with love. This jump is worth a good read.
My Thoughts
==============
From time to time, someone comes up with a fresh look at an old but necessary matter: Forgiveness. Many Christians take upon the noble task of forgiveness out of obedience to the teachings of Jesus. We pray it whenever we pray the Lord's Prayer. We hear sermons about why we need to forgive. We have many resources on how to go about forgiving. Yet, books about the emotional turmoil and the struggle to deal with the loss and hurt remain few and far between. The author writes from a personal struggle that honestly grapples with pain and injustice. This book is not an easy read, both from a literary as well as an emotional aspect. Academically, the author skillfully engages issues from an intellectual angle. From a literary perspective, he dialogues with the different novelists that deal with the humanness of forgiveness. It is true that most human forgiveness is conditional, simply because we have been culturally conditioned, emotionally constricted, or spiritually inadequate to do what God could do. That is not to say that forgiveness is an impossible act. Wrong. Just as Potts points out, we need to forgive, but we also need to mourn the whole process of forgiveness. Even though this book reads like an academic treatise, it is supported by literary novels and highly perceptive storytelling.
I think about the victims who suffer through the current war going on in Ukraine. Can a Ukrainian forgive the Russians for destroying his home, killing his family, and ravaging his country? This single question will launch anyone into an array of theological struggles and emotional turmoil. What is the right thing to do? Perhaps, at the end of it all, while we try to forget the hurts inflicted on us, we remember the strength needed to forgive in spite of the pain. One of the best ways to remember is to tell stories of how others have dealt with this with boldness. We should not run away from the call to forgive, but we should never forgive for the sake of forgiving. We forgive for the sake of love, of restoring whatever remains, and of healing. Out of the ashes of pain, we can be comforted by the life and love of Jesus, who also rose from the ashes of pain to save us.
This is not an easy book to read, academically or theologically speaking. However, that is nothing compared to what it takes to forgive emotionally and spiritually. This book cannot be read just once. For greater impact on understanding the nuances of forgiveness, read it at least twice, and also the four key novels mentioned.
Matthew Ichihashi Potts is the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard Divinity School and the Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church at Harvard University. He lives with his family in Cambridge, MA.
Rating: 4.25 stars of 5.
conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Yale University Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
When studying the Scriptures on forgiveness, scholars often parse and analyze the different words or wordings to derive some distinctiveness of all. The argument is that the ancient biblical languages carry a lot more nuances compared to our modern English which is relatively weaker in storing meaning. The author takes a different approach and prefers to take the word forgiveness as is, and in his own words, "for granted." His purpose is simply to articulate the meaning of forgiveness as commonly understood by the layperson. He also sees his approach as a form of "defense" for not conforming to the conventional ways of understanding forgiveness. This sets the stage for an "alternative account" that handles both the pain and the freedom of forgiveness with sensitivity. He points out a few "nots" about forgiveness. It is not about feelings, not reconciliation, not immediate, and definitely not about forgetting everything that has happened. This is simply a kind of forgiveness shrouded in mourning. It grieves about the need to resist any form of retaliation. It is about living with constant restraint. It is the understanding that even with forgiveness, reconciliation may not be full. The desire to start afresh might be there but the scars forever remain. By linking the acts of forgiveness to mourning, Potts recognizes both the need to forgive and also the honesty behind every forgiveness entails. It asks what it means to be human as we learn to forgive.
Potts enlists the help of four contemporary writers to establish his thesis on forgiveness amid a moral dilemma. They are all selected because they deal with the grieving process of forgiveness, and the need to forgive while journeying through a deep valley of hurt. How do we live with the loss as we progress into the future? Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Buried Giant" raises difficult questions like how any act of forgetting might lead to a loss of personal identity if we suppress or forget any memory of the past. He poses the issue of sin and justice. What if there is no good reason to forgive? What if there was nothing to forgive in the first place? The point is, while forgiveness is the morally right thing to do, is possible, especially with the perpetrator unrepentant? We can forgive someone from the head but when it comes to matters of the heart, it might be a totally different domain altogether. Forgiveness is thus a process of loss and love, of resisting the want to retaliate. It is a tricky passage of personal meandering through the forests of forgetting, forgiving, and freeing.
Chapter Two deals with the role of forgetting and its relation to repentance. Using Marilynne Robinson's Gilead and an interpretation of the parable of the Prodigal Son, Potts asserts that a common memory of the hurt is a necessary part of human forgiveness. It is a complex interchange of the desire to forgive others for their offenses and also the need for forgiveness for one's iniquities. It wrestles with the morality to refuse to kill in the midst of injustice versus the morality to kill to uphold justice. Chapter Three begins the process of recovery from the valley. Extending the scope of forgiveness from personal to families in multiple generations, Potts reflects on Louise Erdrich's novel, "LaRose" about the themes of justice, vengeance, forgiveness, and atonement. In Chapter Four, Potts drives home his understanding of forgiveness as mourning with a reflection on Toni Morrison's "Beloved" to link memory not with forgetting nor retaliating, but with love. This jump is worth a good read.
My Thoughts
==============
From time to time, someone comes up with a fresh look at an old but necessary matter: Forgiveness. Many Christians take upon the noble task of forgiveness out of obedience to the teachings of Jesus. We pray it whenever we pray the Lord's Prayer. We hear sermons about why we need to forgive. We have many resources on how to go about forgiving. Yet, books about the emotional turmoil and the struggle to deal with the loss and hurt remain few and far between. The author writes from a personal struggle that honestly grapples with pain and injustice. This book is not an easy read, both from a literary as well as an emotional aspect. Academically, the author skillfully engages issues from an intellectual angle. From a literary perspective, he dialogues with the different novelists that deal with the humanness of forgiveness. It is true that most human forgiveness is conditional, simply because we have been culturally conditioned, emotionally constricted, or spiritually inadequate to do what God could do. That is not to say that forgiveness is an impossible act. Wrong. Just as Potts points out, we need to forgive, but we also need to mourn the whole process of forgiveness. Even though this book reads like an academic treatise, it is supported by literary novels and highly perceptive storytelling.
I think about the victims who suffer through the current war going on in Ukraine. Can a Ukrainian forgive the Russians for destroying his home, killing his family, and ravaging his country? This single question will launch anyone into an array of theological struggles and emotional turmoil. What is the right thing to do? Perhaps, at the end of it all, while we try to forget the hurts inflicted on us, we remember the strength needed to forgive in spite of the pain. One of the best ways to remember is to tell stories of how others have dealt with this with boldness. We should not run away from the call to forgive, but we should never forgive for the sake of forgiving. We forgive for the sake of love, of restoring whatever remains, and of healing. Out of the ashes of pain, we can be comforted by the life and love of Jesus, who also rose from the ashes of pain to save us.
This is not an easy book to read, academically or theologically speaking. However, that is nothing compared to what it takes to forgive emotionally and spiritually. This book cannot be read just once. For greater impact on understanding the nuances of forgiveness, read it at least twice, and also the four key novels mentioned.
Matthew Ichihashi Potts is the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard Divinity School and the Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church at Harvard University. He lives with his family in Cambridge, MA.
Rating: 4.25 stars of 5.
conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Yale University Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
April 9, 2023
I’m officially a fan of Potts. This was a terrific read. Literature made relevant to the big questions of theology.
April 19, 2023
Shout out to the staff member who sectioned this book off as a personal pick at the Fargo Barnes and Noble. Helped bring it to my attention, prompting a spontaneous purchase. At the very least I proved that such marketing tactics work :)
It wasn't difficult to see why this person singled out this read. From the opening page it becomes clear that Potts is committed to a deep dive into the topic of forgivness. The book is dense with information, carefully argued, and passionately positioned. He argues for a redefining of the word, marrying the politics of its usage with theological concern before landing on its personal and philopshical connotations.
He presents forgivness as morally complex, probing the careful space between it's attachment to justice and/or salvation and it's often hidden appeal to restoration in the West. He uses four novels- The Buried Giant, Gilead, LaRose and Beloved, to parse our where the challenges lie in regards to locating forgivness as a definable action. This is a stark simplification, but to boil down what is a rich discussion and an impressive argument, he sees the root of the problem, within and outside of theology in the West, in a tendency to tie forgivness, intentionally and unintentionally, to necessary retaliation. Although it is common place to read forgivness as a form of forgetting, what we often miss is how even when it is seen to absolve one of or to forget ones "sins", in the political and religious sense, it is still inevitably tied to forms of retribution. It is ingrained in our understanding of the justice system, which, when looked at on rational and philosophical/theological grounds, proves to be wed to irrational beliefs about actual reparation. We prop up culturally constructed "consequences" that have far more to do with order and survival than actual proper and fair restitution, which arguably does not exist in the first place. Such is the way of retaliation; as an idea it can never truly be satisfied. It can only ever end in death, which leaves everything imbalanced.
Potts argues for a seperation of terms long collapsed together. The problem with defining forgivness is that to define it we need to be defining justice of salvation at the same time. This muddles both forgivness and justice, leaving both words enslaved to an inevitable retributive demand. Such forgiveness can no more be freely given than it can lead to proper restoration. Taken on its own, he argues that we need to define forgiveness more purely, as the act of resisting retaliation Of saying no to retaliation. By narrowing it's definition to this simple act, what we are then able to locate is what forgiveness does not do. Behind an act of forgiveness is some sort of loss. Forgiveness does not erase what was lost. It does not restore what is lost. It does not return what is lost. It does not erase the past or the pain. Thus what forgiveness does do is free us to grieve and to mourn. More than this though, it works to free is from the obstacles to newness or transformation. In a theological sense it opens up pathways to the free participation in the kingdom of God based on a new way of seeing and being in the world. It's in this sense that forgiveness does not demand this freedom or transformation in and if itself. That's crucial for grappling with Potts argument. It stands apart. The only thing it depends upon is choosing to forgo retaliation and opening up pathways to grieve and mourn an actual loss. The burden of justice and restoration belongs to other categories.
His chapters, following an introduction, are framed by three main thoughts or sections:
1. Accountability, which encompasses retaliation and repentance
2. Atonement, which encompasses remission and resurrection
3. A final section on "literary forgiveness", which brings in the centrality of the arts and story in helping us to understand words and ideas that we might not otherwise be able to define
As Potts says, "we need to adjust our expectations of what forgiveness ought to mean and then look to ancient, early modern, and contemporary sources to aid us in constructively altering our understandings", scripture, Tradition and spirit (experience) being being primary in this picture for parsing out the theological interplay. There is a temptation to want to create a seperation between the forgiveness God affords and the forgiveness we are called to partcipate in. The common rhetoric submits forgiveness first to be predicated on God's decision to withhold necessary judgement of us, and then finding our motivation and freedom to withold judgment of others based on the belief that one day God will finally judge every wrongdoer and dole out a just punishment, meaning death. Which of course is a theological idea built on one single idea- necessary retaliation or retribution. This is what then informs ones hope theologically speaking. Beyond being demonstrated to be in conflict with the biblical narrative, it's a problematic and irrational approach to forgiveness on logical and philosophical grounds. Death doesn't solve the problem of Sin and certainly doesn't live up to its own claims about necessary retributive justice.
What brings us closer to forgiveness as a concept, theologically and philosophically, is to model it after the simple definition given above- God choosing to withhold the retribution/retaliation that is the product of Sin and Death. This is found in the full proclamation of the forgiveness that follows. In doing this God freely names and judges Evil for what it is, and labels the loss as something we can properly mourn and grieve. This frees us then to name goodness by way of a different kind of participation, one that leads to newness and transformation. It is this Evil itself that judges us through participation in retribution, which can only promise death and cyclical retaliation..
Here forgiveness is able to emerge as the scandalous idea that it is.
It wasn't difficult to see why this person singled out this read. From the opening page it becomes clear that Potts is committed to a deep dive into the topic of forgivness. The book is dense with information, carefully argued, and passionately positioned. He argues for a redefining of the word, marrying the politics of its usage with theological concern before landing on its personal and philopshical connotations.
He presents forgivness as morally complex, probing the careful space between it's attachment to justice and/or salvation and it's often hidden appeal to restoration in the West. He uses four novels- The Buried Giant, Gilead, LaRose and Beloved, to parse our where the challenges lie in regards to locating forgivness as a definable action. This is a stark simplification, but to boil down what is a rich discussion and an impressive argument, he sees the root of the problem, within and outside of theology in the West, in a tendency to tie forgivness, intentionally and unintentionally, to necessary retaliation. Although it is common place to read forgivness as a form of forgetting, what we often miss is how even when it is seen to absolve one of or to forget ones "sins", in the political and religious sense, it is still inevitably tied to forms of retribution. It is ingrained in our understanding of the justice system, which, when looked at on rational and philosophical/theological grounds, proves to be wed to irrational beliefs about actual reparation. We prop up culturally constructed "consequences" that have far more to do with order and survival than actual proper and fair restitution, which arguably does not exist in the first place. Such is the way of retaliation; as an idea it can never truly be satisfied. It can only ever end in death, which leaves everything imbalanced.
Potts argues for a seperation of terms long collapsed together. The problem with defining forgivness is that to define it we need to be defining justice of salvation at the same time. This muddles both forgivness and justice, leaving both words enslaved to an inevitable retributive demand. Such forgiveness can no more be freely given than it can lead to proper restoration. Taken on its own, he argues that we need to define forgiveness more purely, as the act of resisting retaliation Of saying no to retaliation. By narrowing it's definition to this simple act, what we are then able to locate is what forgiveness does not do. Behind an act of forgiveness is some sort of loss. Forgiveness does not erase what was lost. It does not restore what is lost. It does not return what is lost. It does not erase the past or the pain. Thus what forgiveness does do is free us to grieve and to mourn. More than this though, it works to free is from the obstacles to newness or transformation. In a theological sense it opens up pathways to the free participation in the kingdom of God based on a new way of seeing and being in the world. It's in this sense that forgiveness does not demand this freedom or transformation in and if itself. That's crucial for grappling with Potts argument. It stands apart. The only thing it depends upon is choosing to forgo retaliation and opening up pathways to grieve and mourn an actual loss. The burden of justice and restoration belongs to other categories.
His chapters, following an introduction, are framed by three main thoughts or sections:
1. Accountability, which encompasses retaliation and repentance
2. Atonement, which encompasses remission and resurrection
3. A final section on "literary forgiveness", which brings in the centrality of the arts and story in helping us to understand words and ideas that we might not otherwise be able to define
As Potts says, "we need to adjust our expectations of what forgiveness ought to mean and then look to ancient, early modern, and contemporary sources to aid us in constructively altering our understandings", scripture, Tradition and spirit (experience) being being primary in this picture for parsing out the theological interplay. There is a temptation to want to create a seperation between the forgiveness God affords and the forgiveness we are called to partcipate in. The common rhetoric submits forgiveness first to be predicated on God's decision to withhold necessary judgement of us, and then finding our motivation and freedom to withold judgment of others based on the belief that one day God will finally judge every wrongdoer and dole out a just punishment, meaning death. Which of course is a theological idea built on one single idea- necessary retaliation or retribution. This is what then informs ones hope theologically speaking. Beyond being demonstrated to be in conflict with the biblical narrative, it's a problematic and irrational approach to forgiveness on logical and philosophical grounds. Death doesn't solve the problem of Sin and certainly doesn't live up to its own claims about necessary retributive justice.
What brings us closer to forgiveness as a concept, theologically and philosophically, is to model it after the simple definition given above- God choosing to withhold the retribution/retaliation that is the product of Sin and Death. This is found in the full proclamation of the forgiveness that follows. In doing this God freely names and judges Evil for what it is, and labels the loss as something we can properly mourn and grieve. This frees us then to name goodness by way of a different kind of participation, one that leads to newness and transformation. It is this Evil itself that judges us through participation in retribution, which can only promise death and cyclical retaliation..
Here forgiveness is able to emerge as the scandalous idea that it is.
January 3, 2023
A luminous book about forgiveness that the author describes as "writing theology in the margins of literary texts." Matthew Ichihashi Potts dialogues with Marilynne Robinson, Louise Erdrich, Kazuo Ishiguro, & Toni Morrison plus an impressive range of philosophers & theologians. Potts treats forgiveness as a form of grief. It forbids us to retaliate, giving evil for evil. But forgiveness, he argues, can coexist with resentment, with anger, with remembering. It calls us to move forward, acting in the knowledge and reality of God’s love, rather than in the knowledge and confidence of our own goodness.
December 28, 2024
Incredibly thought-provoking and relevant for ministry and people who work with conflict resolution (honestly, who isn’t doing this in some form?), and the literary analyses are beautifully written. I could imagine the many applications of the ideas in this book to so many contexts and issues, so I believe this book has important suggestions to offer us for use in our own personal relationships and the relationships of our institutions/governments/etc.
Unfortunately, for all the great ideas this book, I do think it has a more limited audience. It holds on to your typical academic prose, which does not diminish the importance or power of its messaging, but does take a bit of time, focus, maybe some background in theology/philosophy, to read through and reflect on. The literary analyses do provide some reprieve from the philosophical jungle of holding together the web of 10+ philosophers/theologians being used to help construct Matt’s concept of forgiveness. As it is, for friends without the time or theological language to dive into the entire book, I might recommend the “Introduction” and “Epilogue.” I can see so much potential for the ideas in this book if it was written in a more accessible and stylistically engaging format.
Unfortunately, for all the great ideas this book, I do think it has a more limited audience. It holds on to your typical academic prose, which does not diminish the importance or power of its messaging, but does take a bit of time, focus, maybe some background in theology/philosophy, to read through and reflect on. The literary analyses do provide some reprieve from the philosophical jungle of holding together the web of 10+ philosophers/theologians being used to help construct Matt’s concept of forgiveness. As it is, for friends without the time or theological language to dive into the entire book, I might recommend the “Introduction” and “Epilogue.” I can see so much potential for the ideas in this book if it was written in a more accessible and stylistically engaging format.
March 23, 2024
His argument broke down in the last two chapters, but overall a well-thought out, nuanced take on forgiveness. "Forgive and forget" doesn't work, and Potts lyrically explains why.
September 14, 2024
This is one of the best books I’ve read in some time. More to say on my Substack shortly.
December 19, 2022
I really enjoyed the parts where the author is drawing from the four novels to dive deeper into thoughts around forgiveness. I had read the first three novels, but even without reading the fourth one, I got a lot of his analysis and how he related the plot lines of the books to different ways of thinking about forgiveness. Good stuff and thought provoking.
However....I just ended up skimming all of the rest of the book (about half the book.) It was written in stiff, academic prose and felt like circling a drain to explain something -- using 5x more words than necessary and constantly quoting people I've never heard of. Probably the norm for people in theology/academics but not for me. It's weird because I liked his writing style when discussing the four novels, it's like two different books.
However....I just ended up skimming all of the rest of the book (about half the book.) It was written in stiff, academic prose and felt like circling a drain to explain something -- using 5x more words than necessary and constantly quoting people I've never heard of. Probably the norm for people in theology/academics but not for me. It's weird because I liked his writing style when discussing the four novels, it's like two different books.
June 23, 2023
Divinity Professor and Pastor of Harvard University’s Memorial Church, Matthew Ichihashi Potts, defines forgiveness as the commitment to forgo retaliation. He writes in Forgiveness an alternative account, “Forgiveness turns away from retaliation, not only because it rejects the satisfaction of its own understandable desire for vengeance, but also because it denies the possibility of eradicating its own pain. The loss it has suffered is so grave and irredeemable that it can only accept the ineradicability of its loss while turning away from any customary or compensatory satisfactions.”
Forgiveness an alternative account, is a complicated book, and for me, a difficult read. I had several major challenges in reading this book.
First, the interwoven detailed book reports of four books, which each describe a wrong or series of wrongs, caused me more than a little confusion. Each novel serves as a focal point for the author to develop his ideas. Although they all sound interesting, I had not read any of these novels, when I first read Potts’ book:
• The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro;
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson;
• LaRose by Louise Erdrich;
• Beloved by Toni Morrison.
I enjoy books that open me to new ideas and sources. I enjoy using a highlighter, a dictionary, a notepad (often the book margins), and a search engine when I read for fun. Part of the fun is learning new things. Nonetheless, I felt adrift as I read the plots and character development from the four novels, and how the author felt these things related to his philosophical and theological arguments. His review of Latin and Greek terminology and a number of theology and philosophy tracts was more than an adequate opportunity for me to use my library and search engines. It is quite possible that I will one day choose to read all of his cited novels. But in the short run, it made it harder for me to read his book. After my first reading of Potts' book, Forgiveness, I was inspired to read and study Toni Morrison’s Beloved, a novel with more than enough challenges of its own. When I then reread Forgiveness, particularly parts that were written about Beloved, I was better able to follow Potts' attempts to resolve relevant philosophical, theological, and literary conflicts.
I also found the attempt to relate a Biblical God’s forgiveness with human forgiveness challenging. I have long felt that the Bible is multiple books, written by many authors, in several different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin), during multiple eras of history. I don’t think the God described in most Old Testament writings bears much similarity to the God described in the New Testament. The former is harsh, judgmental, and prone to rage. Much of the Old Testament is focused on barbaric punishments inflicted by this vengeful God. In contrast, the New Testament is largely about forgiveness and redemption. Like the original books, a book about Biblical forgiveness would be incomplete if it didn’t attempt to synthesize paradoxical and contradictory concepts. To his credit, Pastor Potts does not shy away from this task. He includes numerous other pastors’ sermons and exegeses and contrasts them. His attempts to discuss resurrection, from multiple perspectives included the caveat that God and god’s intentions and motivations are unknowable by us mortals.
I have no doubt I will continue to reread Forgiveness, over the years. Already, I have tried to incorporate a number of ideas from pastor Potts’ book, which are important to my maturing worldview. Among those concepts are:
1. The notion that forgiveness is essentially about the commitment to not retaliate or seek revenge
2. An alternative view of forgiveness that does not require:
a. forgetting;
b. letting go of righteous indignation and resentment;
c. the economic model of repayment; and/ or
d. confession, contrition, apology, or recompense by the wrongdoer, as a precondition for the wronged person to choose to forgive.
3. The role of grief as a critical element of forgiveness.
a. To neither suppress nor stamp down the memory
b. To not ignore how our lives are changed by our history of trauma
c. To remember rightly
d. To remember in sequential steps as advised by Dante in Purgatory; whereby one first forgets, after drinking the waters of Lethe; and then remembers (rememory is an important concept in Beloved) after drinking the waters of Eunoe.
4. The separation of the concept of forgiveness into individual, dyadic (wronged and wrongdoer), and community topics.
5. Comparisons of the perspectives on forgiveness based upon systems of law and justice from systems of religion.
6. Emphasis on the idea that the original sin of American Christianity was, and remains, its support of white supremacy, and its part in trying to gloss over slavery and its legacies.
7. The authenticity with which Potts approaches the Bible, biblical exegesis, and literature, including four of his personal favorites novels, requires that the reader put aside the ideas of:
a. perfect heroes, and
b. happy endings in circumstances where there are no happy endings to be found (slavery, genocide, dehumanizing ‘others’).
8. The encouragement to read and study Beloved by Toni Morrison. The look at United States history through the prism of slavery, which Nobel laureate, Toni Morrison, provides is akin to watching Ken Burns’s PBS documentary on America and the Holocaust. They force us to confront the difficult realities of our national past.
9. An introduction to the work of author Kazuo Ishiguro (The Buried Giant). This parlayed into my wife and I watching the Netflix movie called Living, which had been written by Kazuo Ishiguro (Ikiru), and starred Bill Nighy.
Matthew Ichihashi Potts’ book, Forgiveness an alternative account, will take a place near Harriet Lerner’s The Dance of Anger on my bookshelf. Lerner’s book emphasizes that anger is a normal emotion, and trying to suppress our feelings of anger can sometimes be akin to denying hunger or thirst. Potts has focused my attention on the implications of retaliation and considering reasons not to exact revenge. His book goes on to develop the case that trying to erase wrongdoing or trying to excuse injustice, is counterproductive to the goal of learning from wrongdoing and developing the resilience to overcome injustice.
Forgiveness an alternative account, is a complicated book, and for me, a difficult read. I had several major challenges in reading this book.
First, the interwoven detailed book reports of four books, which each describe a wrong or series of wrongs, caused me more than a little confusion. Each novel serves as a focal point for the author to develop his ideas. Although they all sound interesting, I had not read any of these novels, when I first read Potts’ book:
• The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro;
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson;
• LaRose by Louise Erdrich;
• Beloved by Toni Morrison.
I enjoy books that open me to new ideas and sources. I enjoy using a highlighter, a dictionary, a notepad (often the book margins), and a search engine when I read for fun. Part of the fun is learning new things. Nonetheless, I felt adrift as I read the plots and character development from the four novels, and how the author felt these things related to his philosophical and theological arguments. His review of Latin and Greek terminology and a number of theology and philosophy tracts was more than an adequate opportunity for me to use my library and search engines. It is quite possible that I will one day choose to read all of his cited novels. But in the short run, it made it harder for me to read his book. After my first reading of Potts' book, Forgiveness, I was inspired to read and study Toni Morrison’s Beloved, a novel with more than enough challenges of its own. When I then reread Forgiveness, particularly parts that were written about Beloved, I was better able to follow Potts' attempts to resolve relevant philosophical, theological, and literary conflicts.
I also found the attempt to relate a Biblical God’s forgiveness with human forgiveness challenging. I have long felt that the Bible is multiple books, written by many authors, in several different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin), during multiple eras of history. I don’t think the God described in most Old Testament writings bears much similarity to the God described in the New Testament. The former is harsh, judgmental, and prone to rage. Much of the Old Testament is focused on barbaric punishments inflicted by this vengeful God. In contrast, the New Testament is largely about forgiveness and redemption. Like the original books, a book about Biblical forgiveness would be incomplete if it didn’t attempt to synthesize paradoxical and contradictory concepts. To his credit, Pastor Potts does not shy away from this task. He includes numerous other pastors’ sermons and exegeses and contrasts them. His attempts to discuss resurrection, from multiple perspectives included the caveat that God and god’s intentions and motivations are unknowable by us mortals.
I have no doubt I will continue to reread Forgiveness, over the years. Already, I have tried to incorporate a number of ideas from pastor Potts’ book, which are important to my maturing worldview. Among those concepts are:
1. The notion that forgiveness is essentially about the commitment to not retaliate or seek revenge
2. An alternative view of forgiveness that does not require:
a. forgetting;
b. letting go of righteous indignation and resentment;
c. the economic model of repayment; and/ or
d. confession, contrition, apology, or recompense by the wrongdoer, as a precondition for the wronged person to choose to forgive.
3. The role of grief as a critical element of forgiveness.
a. To neither suppress nor stamp down the memory
b. To not ignore how our lives are changed by our history of trauma
c. To remember rightly
d. To remember in sequential steps as advised by Dante in Purgatory; whereby one first forgets, after drinking the waters of Lethe; and then remembers (rememory is an important concept in Beloved) after drinking the waters of Eunoe.
4. The separation of the concept of forgiveness into individual, dyadic (wronged and wrongdoer), and community topics.
5. Comparisons of the perspectives on forgiveness based upon systems of law and justice from systems of religion.
6. Emphasis on the idea that the original sin of American Christianity was, and remains, its support of white supremacy, and its part in trying to gloss over slavery and its legacies.
7. The authenticity with which Potts approaches the Bible, biblical exegesis, and literature, including four of his personal favorites novels, requires that the reader put aside the ideas of:
a. perfect heroes, and
b. happy endings in circumstances where there are no happy endings to be found (slavery, genocide, dehumanizing ‘others’).
8. The encouragement to read and study Beloved by Toni Morrison. The look at United States history through the prism of slavery, which Nobel laureate, Toni Morrison, provides is akin to watching Ken Burns’s PBS documentary on America and the Holocaust. They force us to confront the difficult realities of our national past.
9. An introduction to the work of author Kazuo Ishiguro (The Buried Giant). This parlayed into my wife and I watching the Netflix movie called Living, which had been written by Kazuo Ishiguro (Ikiru), and starred Bill Nighy.
Matthew Ichihashi Potts’ book, Forgiveness an alternative account, will take a place near Harriet Lerner’s The Dance of Anger on my bookshelf. Lerner’s book emphasizes that anger is a normal emotion, and trying to suppress our feelings of anger can sometimes be akin to denying hunger or thirst. Potts has focused my attention on the implications of retaliation and considering reasons not to exact revenge. His book goes on to develop the case that trying to erase wrongdoing or trying to excuse injustice, is counterproductive to the goal of learning from wrongdoing and developing the resilience to overcome injustice.
March 19, 2023
Forgiveness presents a basic moral dilemma. We all experience the need to extend it, and to ask for it. And it's confusing. When I have been deeply hurt, what do I do with my anger, my need to strike back, my desire to explain or to try to justify myself? Or when I am the offender, how can I compensate my victim? How do I move on? Can/should I forget? Should I reconcile, and with whom? Would a reconciliation erase the hurt?
All of these questions arise in our experience.
Potts uses four novels to present the many-faceted problem of forgiveness; to 'enflesh it' by engaging us in contemporary stories.
And he finds Christian moral theology lacking in offering consistent guidance re. forgiveness. The model of debt incurred and payment required through suffering just doesn't hold up. An appeal to the New Testament leaves us with contradictory stories about forgiveness.
Potts offers an alternative interpretation, based on the belief in God's love for all creatures.
I found his offering very engaging and rewarding for my own understanding.
I especially liked the final chapter on Resurrection.
Scholars think that the Gospels end with the empty tomb, and that the stories of later apparitions were later additions to the Gospels.
Jesus was actually, violently killed. There can be no reversal of that fact, no vindication is possible.
Then, the accounts say, his tomb was empty.
The disciples grieved.
The apparitions (Resurrection) attest to forgiveness, bec Christ was present lovingly again with his disciples. Acc to Rowan Williams, for example, Resurrection is not a simple happy ending to an horrific event. Rather it makes space for "the continuing existence of the community of ppl who respond to these events, to this shared history of hope, betrayal, violence, and guilt, and who are forgiven in this history too." The disciples found a way to arise into the experience of being forgiven, even if arising was to remain mired in bewilderment and defeat. It is all there in the forgiveness, bec resurrection entails also grief and loss, the cross and the rising. Such a community would set itself a world beyond the horizon of our present thinking..to a beginning facing forward framed by the past. Not acquittal, but transformation.
The empty tomb matters, the searching ... to beginning again-- with space to see what we have not yet seen.
All of these questions arise in our experience.
Potts uses four novels to present the many-faceted problem of forgiveness; to 'enflesh it' by engaging us in contemporary stories.
And he finds Christian moral theology lacking in offering consistent guidance re. forgiveness. The model of debt incurred and payment required through suffering just doesn't hold up. An appeal to the New Testament leaves us with contradictory stories about forgiveness.
Potts offers an alternative interpretation, based on the belief in God's love for all creatures.
I found his offering very engaging and rewarding for my own understanding.
I especially liked the final chapter on Resurrection.
Scholars think that the Gospels end with the empty tomb, and that the stories of later apparitions were later additions to the Gospels.
Jesus was actually, violently killed. There can be no reversal of that fact, no vindication is possible.
Then, the accounts say, his tomb was empty.
The disciples grieved.
The apparitions (Resurrection) attest to forgiveness, bec Christ was present lovingly again with his disciples. Acc to Rowan Williams, for example, Resurrection is not a simple happy ending to an horrific event. Rather it makes space for "the continuing existence of the community of ppl who respond to these events, to this shared history of hope, betrayal, violence, and guilt, and who are forgiven in this history too." The disciples found a way to arise into the experience of being forgiven, even if arising was to remain mired in bewilderment and defeat. It is all there in the forgiveness, bec resurrection entails also grief and loss, the cross and the rising. Such a community would set itself a world beyond the horizon of our present thinking..to a beginning facing forward framed by the past. Not acquittal, but transformation.
The empty tomb matters, the searching ... to beginning again-- with space to see what we have not yet seen.
April 18, 2023
7/10
"If Christ could have suffered more for us, He would have." Every time I think I understand the cross, I realize I'm grasping only the smallest corner of it, and the cross is just the key to the greater work of the resurrection.
Is sin distance or debt? This is one of the main questions raised by Potts, its a good one, but I suppose I went into believing that debt creates distance, and I leave this book believing something similar, though hopefully slightly more nuanced.
The main analogy for sin in the west is financial.
Forgiveness is just the refusal to take vengeance. It’s the absence of retaliation, not necessarily the presence of peace. Reconciliation and forgiveness are not the same thing. This is interesting, and I feel like I nearly understand it.
Forgiveness is about the future, not the past. It accepts the past and moves forward, accepting that the past can never be changed, and the wrong never made right. You can never remove sin if by remove you mean, "make it never have happened", all you can do is choose not to allow it to change your future.
"Forgiveness can only be given to the unforgivable." This is fascinating to me, and I think I mostly agree.
The prodigal son is forgiven before ever apologizing. Somehow I've never heard someone mention this.
"If Christ could have suffered more for us, He would have." Every time I think I understand the cross, I realize I'm grasping only the smallest corner of it, and the cross is just the key to the greater work of the resurrection.
Is sin distance or debt? This is one of the main questions raised by Potts, its a good one, but I suppose I went into believing that debt creates distance, and I leave this book believing something similar, though hopefully slightly more nuanced.
The main analogy for sin in the west is financial.
Forgiveness is just the refusal to take vengeance. It’s the absence of retaliation, not necessarily the presence of peace. Reconciliation and forgiveness are not the same thing. This is interesting, and I feel like I nearly understand it.
Forgiveness is about the future, not the past. It accepts the past and moves forward, accepting that the past can never be changed, and the wrong never made right. You can never remove sin if by remove you mean, "make it never have happened", all you can do is choose not to allow it to change your future.
"Forgiveness can only be given to the unforgivable." This is fascinating to me, and I think I mostly agree.
The prodigal son is forgiven before ever apologizing. Somehow I've never heard someone mention this.
January 1, 2024
This theological exploration of forgiveness is beautifully rendered, deeply researched, and intensely complex. And yet, Potts acknowledges that his definition is strikingly familiar to what we’ve heard as children on forgiveness. But his work aims, I believe, with two main goals in mind. His first goal seeks to give voice to the complex and possibly contradictory expressions of forgiveness, one that can be loving and full of anger and bitterness at the same time, and to justify the social justice movements of our time as acting as a form of forgiveness. Potts manages to make these connections with little reference to modern social justice movements. His second goal seems to be theories of forgiveness that can trickle down the pulpit: one that recognises the dangers of “forgive and forget” and even the simplicity of “ask and you shall receive.” This second goal demands theologians, scholars, and religious thinkers to be more mindful of the reductive tendencies of forgiveness and instead asks us to see its beautiful possibilities rendered when we allow forgiveness to complexly coincide with things that simply cannot be fixed with “I’m sorry.”
This is fantastic theory to read and provides deep research to anyone interested in the literary, psychological, philosophical, and theological implications of forgiveness.
This is fantastic theory to read and provides deep research to anyone interested in the literary, psychological, philosophical, and theological implications of forgiveness.
May 29, 2023
CW: Christianity, racial oppression, hate crimes, murder, injustice, child abuse
I read this after listening to him read a section of his book on a podcast.
This is a very heavy Christian theology book and very academic speak, and this is the book I've needed for many years about forgiveness about how it's conflated with forgetting, reconciliation, restoration of relationship and not being angry and grieving.
I used to say that I couldn't forgive or that I was an unforgiving person. That is entirely untrue.
This is the forgiveness understanding and self compassion I've needed for years. This book is helping me so much with the weight of inconceivable harms I experienced growing up and redefining myself. I now see I forgave my abusers a long time ago.
What I didn't do was reconcile, I didn't do was act like everything was OK, and I kept telling the truth and enforced boundaries = none of that means I didn't forgive. And I get to be angry and grieve and that doesn't mean I didn't forgive. This book has been a life changing gift.
This book is written by a BIPOC author for Christians and with a Christian lense and has heavy topics: racial hate crimes, crimes against humanity, atrocities, shootings, murder, atomic bombing, US criminal incarceration system and more.
I read this after listening to him read a section of his book on a podcast.
This is a very heavy Christian theology book and very academic speak, and this is the book I've needed for many years about forgiveness about how it's conflated with forgetting, reconciliation, restoration of relationship and not being angry and grieving.
I used to say that I couldn't forgive or that I was an unforgiving person. That is entirely untrue.
This is the forgiveness understanding and self compassion I've needed for years. This book is helping me so much with the weight of inconceivable harms I experienced growing up and redefining myself. I now see I forgave my abusers a long time ago.
What I didn't do was reconcile, I didn't do was act like everything was OK, and I kept telling the truth and enforced boundaries = none of that means I didn't forgive. And I get to be angry and grieve and that doesn't mean I didn't forgive. This book has been a life changing gift.
This book is written by a BIPOC author for Christians and with a Christian lense and has heavy topics: racial hate crimes, crimes against humanity, atrocities, shootings, murder, atomic bombing, US criminal incarceration system and more.
April 14, 2023
My friend Matt wrote this great monograph on forgiveness. It's a constructive work of theology, which invites the moral and relational truths of contemporary post-colonial literature to speak into theological and relational questions surrounding forgiveness. Potts steers us away from Disney-esque notions of forgiveness that wipe away the pain of wrong and reframes forgiveness as a practice of grief and of non-retaliation. Forgiveness on these terms is a reckoning with our irretrievable losses and forsaking illusions of wholeness through vengeance. Potts work with human to human forgiveness keeps returning him to thoughtful engagement with the Christian theology of God's forgiveness of humanity in Christ through his death on the cross. This too is not a work of God's punishment or vengeance but of a vulnerable extension of love even amidst our ache of God's seeming absence.
I think there's more to say on forgiveness, the cross, and resurrection, but what is here is provocative.
I think there's more to say on forgiveness, the cross, and resurrection, but what is here is provocative.
January 1, 2025
Out of the 79 non-fiction books I read this past year, many on theology and faith, this one was an absolute favorite. It's stunning in the gorgeousness of its writing (though be warned, it is quite academic so it takes some brainpower), in its clearly reasoned morality, and in its engagement with great works of fiction. There are profound meditations on what forgiveness is, and what it is not. What I'm most grateful for is Potts' take on the role of Christianity and Jesus' death on the cross. He does not diminish the power of the cross but also does not abide by the rather violent and problematic penal substitutionary atonement model. I'm thankful for a fresh perspective on how God's love operates (which I think those of us raised in evangelical backgrounds especially might benefit from hearing). This book changed my brain and my heart, and I'll be referring back to the many passages I highlighted often. Highly, highly recommend.
June 1, 2023
This is a really good book, full of deep theological insights seen through a literary lens. I enjoyed it, though I knew from the first pages that I would have to put on my heavy duty seminary reading mindset. It's a book I plan to go back to and study more closely. I also need to read the novels it references! Potts is a thoughtful and compassionate writer. I would have given it five stars, but I think that some who come to this book because they know him as a podcast host will find it difficult to wade through. My advice is to give yourself time to delve in. There's a lot of good stuff there.
June 11, 2023
This was an excellent read: theology with grit that quickly grasps the core tensions at the heart of traditional religious (Christian and otherwise) conceptions of forgiveness in which forgiveness ostensibly demands an erasure of traumatic residue, and where failure to erase this residue problematically compounds guilt back onto the victim for their apparent inability to wholly/truly forgive.
Potts, however, uses careful readings of contemporary literature as theological practice in order to posit forgiveness as an act of resistance: specifically, resistance to the siren call and false promises of peace that emanate from retributive violence.
Potts, however, uses careful readings of contemporary literature as theological practice in order to posit forgiveness as an act of resistance: specifically, resistance to the siren call and false promises of peace that emanate from retributive violence.
November 9, 2024
This brilliant and illuminating book takes forgiveness and looks at it through the lens of philosophy, literature, ethics, and biblical teachings. The writing is exceptional. I read whole sections twice not because they were confusing, though he pulls no punches but because they were so rich. I sat with this book a long time.
The author uses Kazuo Ishiguro, Marilyn Robinson, Louise Erdrich and Toni Morrison (the absolute best) to show conflict and forgiveness in literature. He draws from multiple philosophical writers on forgiveness as well as the teachings of Jesus. Quite possible the best book I've read on how and why to forgive. I'll be giving this book out to people.
Top 3 of the year!!! 1,000,000/10
The author uses Kazuo Ishiguro, Marilyn Robinson, Louise Erdrich and Toni Morrison (the absolute best) to show conflict and forgiveness in literature. He draws from multiple philosophical writers on forgiveness as well as the teachings of Jesus. Quite possible the best book I've read on how and why to forgive. I'll be giving this book out to people.
Top 3 of the year!!! 1,000,000/10
January 3, 2023
My review is similar to others. I had high hopes from this book and am a big podcast fan of the author. First, the audiobook is NOT read by him and I really found the narrator's voice unpleasant in comparison and he pronounced a few words oddly. My second complaint is that the vocabulary in the book was very advanced and made the narrative hard to follow. I am a very voracious reader and have a very good vocabulary and I was shocked at how many words I had no idea what they meant and have never heard before. I did not have much to walk away from this book with, disappointingly so.
March 14, 2023
Having appropriate expectations for this book is important; its a deeply academic, theological work, not mainstream. The book is well researched and written, but getting through the book definitely felt like being back in a college philosophy class - it was slow and challenging and required a lot of focus, and it was thought-provoking and sometimes troubling. It definitely worth wading through for anyone interested in questioning a problematic theological area, but its not light or easy reading.
August 2, 2025
I'm a big fan of Matt Potts via the Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast and like his thoughtful approach to complex topics, such as his use of etymology and literary analysis to find deeper meaning. Unfortunately I found this book a little hard to read, perhaps because I haven't read the books he's using for literary analysis or because of his academic writing style. Still, I think I got the gist of what he was trying to say, and I like his approach of thinking critically about Christian themes.
Read
December 22, 2025Potts's theorizations of forgiveness are far less original or divergent from tradition than he often implies in the text, and where they are, I think they're often the weaker. He's not wrong entirely to decenter internal affect from its place in forgiveness, but to claim it plays no part is surely misreading the biblical witness, not to mention the actual experience of forgiveness itself. His literary analyses are (mostly) quite powerful, so I still got something out of this, but I must admit I came away disappointed.
May 6, 2024
I have read all four of the novels that Potts discusses on the theme of forgiveness. I somewhat disagree with his interpretation of The Buried Giant (but it has been a long time since I read it). He makes some assumptions about John Ames and his feelings in the Robinson novel, I believe.
Much of his book is concerned with writers and philosophers that I have not read, and I'm not sure I understand. I would have to read more to see all the modes of forgiving others.
Much of his book is concerned with writers and philosophers that I have not read, and I'm not sure I understand. I would have to read more to see all the modes of forgiving others.
September 27, 2025
Fully transformed how I viewed salvation 😶 completely challenges the traditional evangelical penal substitution view but is still respectful to evangelicals .. which is interesting and I appreciated that. Hard to follow if u didn’t grow up in the Christian world tho w all the jargon.
one of the best Christian thinkers imo
one of the best Christian thinkers imo
August 12, 2023
Well researched book and presents a good survey of atonement literature. The approach he took by examining it through a couple different novels was unique. You don’t necessarily need to be versed in them, he does a great job of giving a summary and tying the points together. Can be a bit of a dense read but, hey, it’s theology!
He does provide some innovation of his own throughout the book which I appreciated. Definitely have food for thought. His survey of the literature builds on a each other. Great book to include in a intro to theology course.
He does provide some innovation of his own throughout the book which I appreciated. Definitely have food for thought. His survey of the literature builds on a each other. Great book to include in a intro to theology course.
November 17, 2023
This was an absolute slog for me. The philosophy was just to dense and seemingly post-modern. I really liked the aspects that dealt with the fiction books but I got a headache trying to read it or listen to it. Fascinating subject but just not my wheelhouse or style.
November 24, 2023
Puts philosophical (and a few theological) texts in conversation with a quartet of novels about the nature of forgiveness. The project yields some interesting insights, but the academic prose is nearly incomprehensible at times and doesn't come to really new conclusions.
Read
January 7, 2024A deeply complex study and critique of theories of forgiveness, through the lens of four works of fiction: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, LaRose by Louise Erdrich and Beloved by Toni Morrison.
March 7, 2023
one of my most important reads, such an excellent book.
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