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FORGIVENESS AND CHRISTIAN ETHICS What does it mean to forgive? The answer is widely assumed to be self-evidentbutcriticalanalysisquicklyrevealsthecomplexitiesofthe subject. Forgiveness has traditionally been the preserve of Christian theology,thoughinthelasthalfcentury–andatanacceleratingpace– psychologists, lawyers, politicians and moral philosophers have all beenmakinganimportantcontributiontoquestionsaboutandour understandingofthesubject.AnthonyBashoffersavigorousrestate- ment of the Christian view of forgiveness in critical dialogue with thosebothwithinandwithouttheChristiantradition.Forgivenessis amuchmorecomplicatedsubjectthanmanytheologiansrecognise. Bashexplorestherelevanceofthetheoreticaldiscussionofthetopic torecenteventssuchastheTruthandReconciliationCommissionin SouthAfrica,post-Holocausttrials,theaftermathof9/11and7July andvarioushigh-profilecriminalcases. anthony bash isRectoroftheDurhamNorthTeamofparishes andHonoraryResearchFellowintheDepartmentofTheologyand Religion,DurhamUniversity.HeisauthorofAmbassadorsforChrist (1997)andanumberofarticles. new studies in christian ethics GeneralEditor:RobinGill EditorialBoard:StephenR.L.Clark,StanleyHauerwas,RobinW.Lovin Christianethicshasincreasinglyassumedacentralplacewithinacademictheology. At the same time the growing power and ambiguity of modern science and the risingdissatisfactionwithinthesocialsciencesaboutclaimstovalue-neutralityhave promptedrenewedinterestinethicswithinthesecularacademicworld.Thereis, therefore,aneedforstudiesinChristianethicswhich,aswellasbeingconcerned with the relevance of Christian ethics to the present-day secular debate, are well informedaboutparalleldiscussionsinrecentphilosophy,scienceorsocialscience. NewStudiesinChristianEthicsaimstoprovidebooksthatdothisatthehighest intellectual level and demonstrate that Christian ethics can make a distinctive contributiontothisdebate–eitherinmoralsubstanceorintermsofunderlying moraljustifications. NewStudiesinChristianEthics Titlespublishedintheseries: 1. RightsandChristianEthicsKieranCronin 2. BiblicalInterpretationandChristianEthicsIanMcDonald 3. PowerandChristianEthicsJamesMackey 4. PluralityandChristianEthicsIanS.Markham 5. MoralActionandChristianEthicsJeanPorter 6. ResponsibilityandChristianEthicsWilliamSchweiker 7. JusticeandChristianEthicsE.ClintonGardner 8. FeminismandChristianEthicsSusanParsons 9. Sex,GenderandChristianEthicsLisaSowleCahill 10. TheEnvironmentandChristianEthicsMichaelNorthcott 11. ConceptsofPersonandChristianEthicsStanelyRudman 12. PrioritiesandChristianEthicsGarthHallett 13. Community,LiberalismandChristianEthicsDavidFergusson 14. TheMarketEconomyandChristianEthicsPeterSedgwick 15. ChurchgoingandChristianEthicsRobinGill 16. InequalityandChristianEthicsDouglasHicks 17. BiologyandChristianEthicsStephenClark 18. AltruismandChristianEthicsColinGrant 19. ThePublicForumandChristianEthicsRobertGascoigne 20. EvilandChristianEthicsGordonGraham 21. LivingTogetherandChristianEthicsAdrianThatcher 22. TheCommonGoodandChristianEthicsDavidHollenbach 23. SelfLoveandChristianEthicsDarleneFozardWeaver 24. EconomicCompulsionandChristianEthicsAlbinoBarrera 25. GeneticsandChristianEthicsCeliaDeane-Drummond 26. HealthCareandChristianEthicsRobinGill 27. Alcohol,AddictionandChristianEthicsChristopherC.H.Cook 28. HumanEvolutionandChristianEthicsStephenJ.Pope 29. ForgivenessandChristianEthicsAnthonyBash FORGIVENESS AND CHRISTIAN ETHICS ANTHONY BASH CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB28RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521878807 © Anthony Bash 2007 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2007 ISBN-13 978-0-511-34259-2 eBook (NetLibrary) ISBN-10 0-511-34259-4 eBook (NetLibrary) ISBN-13 978-0-521-87880-7 hardback ISBN-10 0-521-87880-2 hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Contents Generaleditor’spreface pagevii Preface ix 1 Forgivenessandwrongdoing 1 2 Forgivenessthenandnow 23 3 Forgivenessandpsychologicaltherapy 36 4 Justiceandforgiveness 57 5 ForgivenessandtheNewTestament 79 6 Theidealofforgiveness 101 7 Forgivenessandstructuralwrongdoing 111 8 Forgiveness,punishmentandjustice 141 9 Varietiesofforgiveness 159 10 Afterthoughts 174 Bibliography 187 Indexes 201 v General editor’s preface ThisbookmakesatimelycontributiontotheseriesNewStudiesinChris- tian Ethics. It provides a nuanced and well-written account of forgiveness that takes fully into consideration a wide range of scholarly material in philosophy, psychology, law (Anthony Bash originally trained in law andpractisedasasolicitorbeforeordination),NewTestamentstudiesand theology. It makes important links with other books in the series, espe- ciallyDavidHollenbach’sTheCommonGoodandChristianEthicsandJean Porter’s Moral Action and Christian Ethics. And it fulfils well the two key aimsoftheseriesasawhole–namely,topromotemonographsinChris- tianethicsthatengagecentrallywiththepresentsecularmoraldebateatthe highest possible intellectual level and, second, to encourage contributors to demonstrate that Christian ethics can make a distinctive contribution tothisdebate. Theissueofforgivenessiscertainlytimely,asAnthonyBashdemonstrates through the many examples that he takes, such as the process of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa, post-Holocaust trials, the aftermath of 9/11 and 7 July, and various high-profile crime stories. He also shows that the virtue of forgiveness is much more complicated than is often realised either in society at large or specifically in churches. Pointing to philosophical,psychologicalandlegaldiscussionsofforgivenessheargues thatincomparisonmanytheologicalaccountsofforgivenessareinadequate. Indeed, very few other recent theologians have shown a proper awareness ofthesedetailedseculardiscussionsofforgiveness. AnthonyBasharguesthatforgivenessproperlyunderstoodisaprocess,as psychologicalstudieshavesuggested.Healsosideswiththosephilosophers who maintain that there are occasions when unconditional forgiveness is actuallyinappropriate,forexamplewhenthevictimisdeadorwherefor- givenessconflictswithjustice.Heconcludesthat,theologically,forgiveness is properly seen as a gift rather than as a moral duty. We do have such a vii viii Generaleditor’spreface duty,butitinturnisbestseenasadutytostrivetoforgive–believing,on theologicalgrounds,thatitisfinallyGodwhoforgivesunconditionally. Readers of this thoughtful book are likely to come away more (deeply) confusedaboutforgivenessthanbefore.Theologicallyinclinedreadersmay, Ihope,bepersuadedthatsecularaccountsofforgivenessdoneedtobetaken seriously.Othersmaybechallengedbythebook’stheologicalfoundations– forgivenessisaneminentlytheologicalvirtue.Thisisindeedachallenging book. robin gill a note on the cover image: the essa cross TowardstheendofthelastcenturyGertSwartwascommissionedtomake a cross for the Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa (ESSA), a multi- culturalseminarydrawingstudentsfrommanycountriesinAfrica.ESSA’s campus,asmallbutsignificantexampleofurbanrenewal,issituatedinthe SouthAfricancityofPietermaritzburg,thecapitalofKwaZulu-Natal. The complex symbolism of the cross was carefully selected to convey several messages including the suffering of many South Africans in the turbulent, violent years before the birth of our democracy, the suffering of countless others in what must be one of the bloodiest centuries in the historyoftheworld,and,crucially,oneofredemption,reconciliationand hope. Gertusedimagesofhishands,eachwithafingeronthetriggerofagun directedattheLamb,tocontextualisethecross–inaprovinceknownasthe ‘killingfieldsofNatal’inthe1980s–andasacommentonthecomplicity ofeachoneofusinthebrutalexecutionofChristonthecross. Aspeoplegatheredtodedicatethecrosson11September2001newswas filtering through of the audacious and devastating attacks on the Word Trade Towers and the Pentagon. So it was that, while the USA reeled, a smallassemblyintimatelyacquaintedwithterrorandtragedyexuberantly celebrated the arrival of the ESSA Cross, a beacon of hope on a dark day inadarkworld. gert and istine swart

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What does it mean to forgive? The answer is widely assumed to be self-evident but critical analysis quickly reveals the complexities of the subject. Forgiveness has traditionally been the preserve of Christian theology, though in the last half century - and at an accelerating pace - psychologists, l