An Assessment of Contemporary Models of Forgiveness

Description

TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1 The Context of the Study The Importance of the Study 4 The Thesis of the Study 5 The Methodology of the Study 7 Chapter 2. DEFINITIONS AND MEANING OF FORGIVENESS 15 Psychological Definitions 16 Biblical Theological Definitions 25 Chapter 3. CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS OF FORGIVENESS 41 Description of Psychological Models of Forgiveness 43 Michael E. McCullough 43 Everett L. Worthington Jr. 46 Robert D. Enright 50 Assessment of Psychological Models of Forgiveness 54 Chapter 4. CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGICAL MODELS OF FORGIVENESS 71 Description of Theological Models of Forgiveness 74 Lewis D. Smedes 74 L. Gregory Jones 78 Miroslav Volf 86 Assessment of Theological Models of Forgiveness 93 Chapter 5. A MODEL OF COMMUNAL FORGIVENESS NURTURED THROUGH THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH 113 Peril and Possibilities of Communal Forgiveness 117 The Sense of Community in Contemporary Church 121 Forgiveness Nurtured by the Community 124 Forgiveness Mediated through the Community 131 Chapter 6. COMMUNAL FORGIVENESS: A MULTIFACETED MODEL 137 Community of Faith Defined 139 Collective Responsibility and Communal Guilt 141 Social Political Forgiveness 144 Christian Realism, Group Interest, and Political Forgiveness 148 Vicarious and Communal Repentance 156 Forgiveness and Justice: Integrated Tools for Communal Healing 163 The Process of Communal Forgiveness 169 Chapter 7. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 189 BIBLIOGRAPHY 203 INDEX 221