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Smedes: The question that motivated the writing of this book was Jewish anger at Christians who glibly tell them they have to forgive Hitler. "Forgiveness is not fair," they respond. "It's dangerous to wink at evil."

That's the same problem the Pharisees had with St. Paul's claim that God says, The sinner? I'll treat him like a not-sinner.

God's playing make-believe, they said. It's a charade. It's not fair.

I decided to tackle the question of fairness, because forgiving is close to the core of the uniqueness of the Christian ethic.

One ingredient in the answer to the question "Is forgiving fair?" is being fair to yourself. That takes away the burden of deciding when someone deserves to be forgiven. The answer is simple: No one ever deserves to be forgiven. Hitler doesn't deserve it. Eichmann doesn't deserve it. Neither do I. If I hurt you unfairly or unnecessarily, it's the height of folly for me to say, "I deserve to be forgiven."

In ordinary moral bookkeeping, there is no way to factor in forgiveness. You can factor in getting even. You can factor in revenge. That's what we all do. "An eye for an eye" makes perfectly good moral bookkeeping sense. But it makes terrible practical sense. You never do get even.

And not getting even leaves you the victim—with an unfair burden of a painful memory.

This article originally appeared in the March 1985 issue of HIS magazine. Copyright 1985 © Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. Used with permission.

Other stories appearing on our site today include:

Forgiveness—The Power to Change the Past | To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.

Controlling the Unpredictable—The Power of Promising | When you make a promise you have created a small sanctuary of trust within the jungle of unpredictability.

Arguments in Favor of Abortion Are Strong … | … if you accept one all-important assumption.

Books written by Lewis Smedes are available at Christianbook.com.

Additional Christianity Today articles written by Lewis B. Smedes include:

How to Deal With Criminals | Is there a biblical principle behind the punishment of those who break the law? (July 8, 2002)

Keys to Forgiving | How do you know that you have truly forgiven someone? (Dec. 3, 2001)

Who Are We to Judge? | Did Jesus forbid us from judging others? (Oct. 8, 2001)

Can God Reach the Mentally Disabled? | Are mentally challenged adults whose intellectual age is probably that of a 1-year-old sheltered under God's salvation? (March 21, 2001)

Is Suicide Unforgivable? | What is the biblical hope and comfort we can offer a suicide victim's family and friends? (July 6, 2000)

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December (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46