A Just Forgiveness: Responsible Healing without Excusing Injustice (2009)
Everett L. Worthington Jr., Downer's Grove, IL: IVP Books.

Review by Jeff Boyd

Aquinas and Augustine developed the philosophical foundation for just war.[i] Glen Stassen promoted just peacemaking.[ii] Gerald Schlabach argued for just policing.[iii] Now, Everett Worthington Jr. attempts to build a framework for just forgiveness by asking, "How can Christians forgive without excusing wrongdoing?"

In Part 1, which accounts for half of the book, Worthington draws heavily from psychology (most notably social, developmental and cognitive psychology), theology and history, as he explores the major themes of humility, justice and forgiveness. Central to this discussion is the injustice gap, or the perceived gap between the present situation and a just outcome. Because this injustice gap is viewed differently by the offender and the one wounded, efforts to reduce the gap for one party will increase it for the other party. This is the catalyst for the cycle of hurt and revenge. While acts of justice help to reduce the injustice gap, ultimately humble forgiveness is required to end the cycle.

Though brief examples are provided throughout these beginning chapters and short how-to lists are supplied, by the end of Part 1, I still did not have a clear picture of what Worthington meant by "just forgiveness" or how it is different from plain vanilla-flavored forgiveness. Contrasting case studies of both just and unjust forgiveness would have helped me grasp the theoretical concepts at a deeper, more practical level. The discussion of triggers, motives and emotional processes was descriptive of our common intra- and inter-personal dynamics, but if my undergrad Rhetoric and Persuasion professor were the editor, I'm sure he would say, "Show, don't tell."

Part 2 begins to put flesh on the theories by applying them to the four general spheres in which we live-family, church, communities and society, and the world. These areas are further subdivided into more specific sets of relationships. For example, "family" includes a discussion of interactions with one's spouse, children and aging parents. By covering multiple topics in each of the four main groupings, readers are likely to find content relevant to their present situations; however, it also means that each area cannot be analyzed in great detail.

Although Worthington touches on the related concepts of conflict resolution, relational reconciliation and communication patterns, the focus remains on the interplay between humility, justice and forgiveness. This is its specific contribution to the broad topic of peacemaking. While the call to humility stood out to me as one of the book's primary strengths, I also found Worthington's application of the various types of justice to the four spheres of life to be enlightening. I had seen them explored in the area of social justice, but had not thought of their role in interpersonal relationships.[iv]

The chapter that most captured my interest in this second part of the book addresses forgiveness within the church. With an experience of how deeply the divisions within the church affect our faith, our community, and our witness, I wish we could individually and collectively engage the sections on group dynamics, power struggles and acting in love. In our local churches we experience the pain of gossip, misunderstandings, lies, perceived disrespect, affairs, bankruptcies, divorces and many other experiences that build walls between former friends and worshipers. On a larger scale, as a global church we have suffered greatly from past theological crises, and we are currently in heated discussions on creation and homosexuality. These emotionally, spiritually, and politically loaded issues can divide us and cause bitter hurt. Will we find ways to effectively communicate about them, agree to disagree when necessary, and seek God's will without vilifying or insulting those who currently view these murky issues differently than we do?[v] Will we humbly listen and humbly share? Will I? Through God's grace can I live Worthington's definition of love: "[B]eing willing to value the people on the other side and being unwilling to devalue people" (p. 153)?

Throughout the book, Worthington stresses the need to balance the head and heart, that is, to consider forgiveness, ethics and the injustice gap from a relational perspective as much as from a purely rational one. Rather than focus solely on ethics of the mind, Worthington suggests "we need a relationship ethic, an ethics of the heart, which sets the communal tone for the ways people deal with personal transgressions" (p. 184). While I agree with this, and appreciate the lists of suggested practices in most chapters, in the end I felt the book was not able to take me to that level. The psychological and sociological descriptions helped me understand the dynamics of forgiveness more thoroughly; however, compared with my experience of forgiveness in the 12-Step process, the book retained a cerebral rather than emotional orientation.[vi] This is not necessarily a negative or positive characteristic; that valuation depends on the current needs of each reader.

As we live in our families, workplaces, churches and the broader society, may we approach our unavoidable conflicts with humility and with an appreciation for the ministry of reconciliation that we have been given. May we value those we disagree with or who hurt us, even if it is unsafe to reconcile with them after forgiving them. And especially when it is church members who let us down, may we continue to worship the God who combined justice and forgiveness in the humble sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.[vii]

[i] John Howard Yoder argues that "justifiable war tradition" is a more appropriate label than "just war theory" (Christian Attitudes to War, Peace, and Revolution, Brazos Press, 2009).

^[ii] See http://documents.fuller.edu/sot/faculty/stassen/cp_content/homepage/homepage.htm, Just Peacemaking: Transforming Initiatives for Justice and Peace (1992), or Just Peacemaking: The New Paradigm for the Ethics of Peace and War (Pilgrim Press, 2008).

[iii] See http://www.americanmagazine.org/gettext.cfm?articleTypeID=1&textID=3051&issueID=439, Just Policing, Not War (Liturgical Press, 2007), or Just Policing (Pandora Press, 2004).

[iv] For example, see Ron Sider's chapter, "Justice, Human Rights, and Government," in Toward an Evangelical Public Policy (Ronald Sider and Diane Knippers, eds., Baker Books, 2005).

[v] And the fact that people at both ends of the spectrum believe their opinion is obvious to the most casual observer demonstrates the reality of the murkiness.

[vi] A good introduction to the 12 -Steps is A Hunger for Healing (J. Keith Miller, HarperCollins, 1991).

[vii] For those who would like to continue studying conflict resolution from a Christian perspective, two books worth considering are The Peacemaker (Ken Sande, Baker Books, 2004) and Blessed are the Peacemakers (Neil Anderson and Charles Mylander, Regal, 2002).