2 of 3

But that is exactly what forgiveness does! For herein lies the essence of Christian forgiveness: On account of his divinity, Christ could and did shoulder the consequences of human sin; so the penalty for wrongdoing can be detached from wrongdoers. And since on account of his humanity Christ could and did die on behalf of sinners, they, in effect, died when he died; so guilt can be detached from wrongdoers. When we forgive those who have wronged us, we make our own God's miracle of forgiveness. Echoing God's unfathomable graciousness, we decouple the deed from the doer, the offense from the offender. We blot out the offense so it no longer mars the offender. That is why the non-remembrance of wrongs suffered appropriately crowns forgiveness.

Grace-filled forgiveness and the non-remembrance of offenses is scandalous, especially when extended to vile evildoers—say, to soldiers who have slain children one by one before their mother's eyes but refused to let the mother die, preferring "her to remain alive but inhabited by death." That many people feel a strong urge to reject forgiveness and non-remembrance is understandable. Moreover, no argument independent of belief in the God of infinite love who justifies the ungodly and finally redeems and reconciles the world can be constructed to persuade those who want to keep a tight grip on strict retributive justice and insist on erecting an indestructible monument to wrongs suffered. But if God's reconciling self-giving for the ungodly stands at the center of our faith, then nothing stands in the way of opting for grace, with its pain and delight, of forgiving and ultimately releasing the memory of suffered wrongs.

It is important to get right the process by which we let go of memories of wrongs suffered. Such letting go is an act of grace, and it must be governed by the logic of grace. Faust, the wrongdoer, could never step into the paradise of non-remembrance on his own; for Gretchen's memory is an angel wielding a fiery sword at its entrance. Neither could he demand of Gretchen free passage; he has absolutely no right of admission, for he has deserved the remembrance of his misdeed. He can only beg to be admitted to the paradise from which the affliction of memory has been removed—he can only cast himself completely on her mercy.

But Gretchen could give to Faust the gift of admittance—and thereby translate both him and herself out of the world marked by transgression and into a world of love and felicity. What's more, it is my hope that she will give this gift to Faust if they both find each other in the forecourt of that world of love. Will someone force her not to remember? No—no one will even insist that she not remember. If she gives that gift, she will give it as all good gifts are given—voluntarily and joyfully. God will give her a new self made into a perfect dwelling place for the gift-giving and sin-bearing God—and it is through the power of that God that she will joyfully pass on to Faust God's gift of forgiveness and non-remembrance. Having found her proper self in God, who is love, she will flourish by doing what God's love does through her—forgive, reconcile, and no longer think of the injury.

next page... |  2 of 3

share this page

May (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51