Henry J. Charles Forgiveness Considered

Annotation

Book Explains the Concept of Forgiveness Henry J. Charles brings forgiveness into modernity as an integral moral imperativePORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (Release Date TBD) When the concept of forgiveness takesthe center stage, most Christian and Western culture-oriented people usually relate it to its religiousconnotation, in every likelihood drawing on the ultimate expression of forgiveness in the death of JesusChrist on the cross. Author Henry J. Charles, though affirming the roots of forgiveness in the Biblicalheritage, considers the notion in its broader dimensions as an ethical imperative, one also capable ofgeo-political application. FORGIVENESS CONSIDERED first explores the word in its biblical and non-biblical meanings. It alsoclarifi es the several misrepresentations and misconceptions of forgiveness in ordinary understanding. Inother portions of the book, the author deals with forgiveness as a special process akin to a fundamentalchange in character. He also deals with implications of forgiving and forgetting, and the idea thatcertain acts can be considered unforgiveable. The book finally looks to special geopolitical contexts, where nations attempt to come to termwith histories of brutality and oppression, as a way to envisage and realize a more liberatingfuture. He examines the realities of amnesty, forgiveness, and reconciliation in South Africa, inthe light of the latters history of apartheid, in the hope that forgiveness and reconciliation may beaccorded a much wider application in human affairs than repairing the serious breaches that occurin interpersonal relations.