Judeo-Christian Forgiveness And Religion

Forgiveness and Religion Religion is essentially an encounter between God and man. God is concerned with man; he turns to him; he reveals himself to him. This makes religion possible. And man turns to God; he answers him (Peschke, 2004). Oxford Dictionary defines Religion as “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. Man responds to the revelation of God’s glory, majesty and holiness, to his love and mercy in the divine virtues of faith, hope, and love. The forgiveness through God signifies a thorough overcoming of guilt. This forgiveness is described in the Bible in a variety of ways. The sins become white as snow (Is. 1:18); they are cast into the depths of the sea (Mic. 7:10); God moves

The Judeo-Christian heritage is awe-inspiring about forgiveness (Exodus 34:9, 34: 6-7; Matthew 18: 23-25). This is not an essay about hidden Church History, the major assumptions which the Bible long ago rendered conventional for any careful religious use of the term forgiveness in the Jewish and Christian traditions (Shriver, 1998). It is important to recall the central purpose of forgiveness in a theological and pastoral context it was originally for the benefit of the nation and of human kind in general (Anchor Bible Dictionary, 2:835). Christians and Jews have a moral and ethical responsibility not only for their “vertical” relationship with God but also for their “horizontal” relationship with one another, and this, in turn leads to a great social benefit (Couper, 1998). Forgiveness concurrently assumes the commission of an evil act by one representative against another and the effort of the victim to repair the relationship broken by sin. As John Dryden put it, “Forgiveness to the injured doth belong” (The Conquest of Gada II,

Forgiveness is closely allied to this spiritual component of its nature and thus transcends the narrowly religious or denominational beliefs of individual religions. Thus, forgiveness is of profound spiritual and moral relevance to all, regardless of whether they hold more specifically religious beliefs. “Forgiveness is a matter of a strong-willed change of heart, the greatest blessing in human being, the successful result of an active endeavor to replace bad thoughts with good, bitterness, and anger with compassion and affection” (North, 1998; Scott Peck, 1992). Similarly, conversion to the newness of the Gospel entails a daily encounter with the Lord in prayer. “Jesus Christ is the son of God, our Savior, our high priest who brings us mercy, grace and help in all our needs (Hebrew 4:14-16)”. Give praise to Him for His love, His mercy and compassion, inspired by the Gospel message of charity, forgiveness and solidarity in the service of the common goal, to be with Him in the everlasting life (Pope Francis,