The Trouble with Forgiveness

Forgiveness of sins does not straightaway do for us in this age what we might desire. It does not heal the paralytic; it does not put food on the table; it does not bind up all our hurts and pains. If that is the sum and substance of what is hoped for, forgiveness will never be “enough.” But then, one might add, nothing will ever be enough. I expect that is the major impetus behind our question. In our culture of complaint and victimization we tend to lose sight of the ultimate and to focus rather on immediate injustices, wrongs, and abuses. So we cry, “Forgiveness is not enough!” We demand rather our rights; we demand justice, the righting of wrongs, the end of all abuses; we want fulfillment, self- esteem, happiness. No doubt these are matters of considerable importance. But they are, nevertheless, penultimate. They need not be dismissed out-of-hand. They are persistent enough to raise a question crucial to this discussion, that of the relation between the ultimate and the penultimate. We shall have to consider this in more detail a bit further on.

For the moment it is apropos to point out that something of a sea change has set in in Christian (if it is any longer that!) piety in these matters, a turning to the world of the penultimate, a concentration on “the sufferings of this present time” (which, we cannot fail to note, St. Paul reminds us “are not worthy of being compared to the glory which is to be revealed to us” —Rom 8:18). Indeed, one can even sense in our question something of a resentment vis-à-vis forgiveness. Forgiveness carries with it the presupposition that we might actually be guilty of something. So there is often more than inquisitiveness at work here: not only whether forgiveness is enough but whether it is at all relevant “to my needs.” Why should I need forgiveness since “they” are the ones who are the real sinners and the cause of all my suffering? The very pronouncement of forgiveness is insulting! Is it not rather God who needs forgiving—if we can find it in our hearts to do so? — Gerhard O. Forde, “Is Forgiveness Enough? Reflections on an Odd Question”