The Faces of Forgiveness: Searching For Wholeness and Salvation

Winner of the Narramore Award from the Christian Association for Psychological Studies.

Throughout the years, discussions of forgiveness have occurred almost exclusively in religious circles. In the past few decades, however, forgiveness has become a popular topic in contemporary psychology. Unfortunately, there has been relatively little effort to effectively combine theological conceptions of forgiveness with contemporary psychological research. The Faces of Forgiveness,steps in to fill this void.

The image of the face is the motif that integrates the two disciplines of theology and psychology. At a basic level the actual human face has elicited a great deal of research on emotions related to forgiveness. At a deeper level the face can serve as a metaphor for the integration of existential and spiritual longings for forgiveness, wholeness, and salvation. And while theological studies of salvation politely acknowledge forgiveness, the authors argue that forgiveness should take a central role, not only because it is warranted by biblical tradition but also because it more adequately engages our postmodern context.

Shults and Sandage offer here a model for understanding and practicing forgiveness that integrates psychology and theology, focuses on the importance of relationality, contemplates the hermeneutics of the face, and delineates the ways in which the term "forgiveness" is most commonly used.

The Faces of Forgiveness is a substantive text appropriate for use in both theology and psychology classes. Pastors, psychologists, family counselors, and laity interested in theology, psychology, and spirituality will find it a helpful resource.
-Publisher.

Publisher Description

While forgiveness has historically been regarded as a religious concern, it has also become a popular topic in contemporary psychology. Unfortunately, there has been little effort to combine a Christian understanding of forgiveness with psychology. The Faces of Forgiveness, winner of the Narramore Award from the Christian Association for Psychological Studies, steps in to fill this void.

"Shults and Sandage offer an alternative to shallow legal and therapeutic treatments of the dynamics of forgiveness. Theirs is a redemptive model of forgiveness that integrates psychological and theological dimensions using a 'hermeneutics of face.' Christians seeking a more satisfying approach to the subject cannot do better than begin with The Faces of Forgiveness."
--Roger E. Olson, professor of theology, George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University

"We have long needed a terrific book such as this that draws on theological insights and psychological insights about forgiveness with equal seriousness and significance. The authors offer a distinctively Christian account of forgiveness that is as rich in analysis as it is helpful in practical significance. I commend it highly to anyone concerned about faithful Christian living."
--L. Gregory Jones, dean of the divinity school and professor of theology, Duke University, author of Embodying Forgiveness

"We are spiritual beings attempting to become mature, healthy, and whole human beings. Why is this so difficult and how do both theology and psychology assist us in this process? Shults and Sandage provide the answer by integrating reforming theology with transforming spirituality in a stunning interdisciplinary project that will immediately become the lodestar for a whole new generation of integrative studies. We have already seen the turn to relationality in philosophical anthropology as well as in interpersonal psychology. We are relational beings created in the divine image. Taking seriously the darker side of human spirituality as the sin that isolates and alienates us from the grace of divine presence and healthy human relationships, the authors describe and demonstrate a transforming spirituality that is biblically sound and therapeutically effective. Hurting humanity, wounded in spirit, needs pastors, counselors, and therapists who are equipped to understand the deep spiritual dimensions of that hurt and to become agents of transformation, change, and growth. This is the book that I should have read twenty years ago and should have had my students who were preparing to be pastors and therapists read. Here it is. Read it!"
--Ray S. Anderson, senior professor of theology and ministry, Fuller Theological Seminary ?