The Christian faith hinges on forgiveness. Christ’s work on the cross initiated what would forever mark history. Church fathers like Irenaeus and Athanasius wrote about forgiveness as an essential part of the Christian life. Some of Tim Keller’s last published words appear in Forgive—a manual for the culture intent on exacting justice, therefore withholding forgiveness.
The idea of forgiveness has become countercultural, because sometimes forgiving seems at odds with justice, especially in cases of abuse.
British theologian and apologist Amy Orr-Ewing enters the conversation with her book Forgiveness: Reclaiming Its Power in a Culture of Outrage and Fear. She says forgiveness is the forgotten way, a gift capable of healing present-day culture. She also observes that a society intent on abandoning forgiveness loses the capacity to flourish.
Western civilization is fracturing as people forget the possibility of forgiveness through Christ. This is, in part, because theological modernism portrays Jesus as a moral example, not as a Savior who died to atone for sin. It’s no surprise in our post-Christendom culture that an increasing number of psychologists argue against forgiving others.
Orr-Ewing calls for a return to the forgotten way of forgiveness empowered by the gospel, because it’s a gift capable of healing our hearts and our culture.
Forgiveness: Reclaiming Its Power in a Culture of Outrage and Fear
Amy Orr-Ewing
Forgiveness: Reclaiming Its Power in a Culture of Outrage and Fear
Amy Orr-Ewing
In a culture shaped by outrage, punishment, and fear, forgiveness is often misunderstood—or dismissed entirely. It can feel impractical, unjust, or even harmful to our mental health. But what if the opposite is true?
In Forgiveness, public theologian Amy Orr-Ewing explores why forgiveness is not a denial of justice but a powerful path toward healing, freedom, and hope—for individuals and for society.
Losing Hope
A society opposed to forgiveness lives disconnected from one another as well as from God. Orr-Ewing argues, “Community conflicts, divisions, and family devastations hurt as much as they do because we are made to live in connection with others” (119).
More than one-fourth of American adults describe themselves as estranged from at least one family member, according to a research project by Cornell University. Consider how social media algorithms “reward the divisive, rage-inducing content that [further] separates us from one another” (126). Anger and loneliness produce people marked by stress and health issues.
It’s no surprise in our post-Christendom culture that an increasing number of psychologists argue against forgiving others.
These negative effects expose a void: Concepts like justice and human rights have shaped the West, and these ideas are inherently Christian, as historian Tom Holland has argued. At their core, people long for justice, which is why cancel culture exists. But is it possible for society to stay committed to values like justice and human rights while dismissing the source from which they came?
When we lose forgiveness, we lose the framework established by Christ. A community without forgiveness can neither commit to holding common values nor value one another. When we remove the possibility of forgiveness, we lose hope.
Seeking Welcome
When people experience harm, justice enacted can aid the healing process. But so can “a forgiveness that acknowledges the value of a person at a transcendent level and sees the scale of harm that has been suffered” (170–71). Justice and forgiveness are complementary concepts, not opposites.
Orr-Ewing reiterates that forgiveness on God’s terms acknowledges the wrong, expecting that God will avenge. Our culture is losing forgiveness because it has forgotten that the source of true justice exists in the God who created us. This loss comes from nationalists who assume superiority as they try to enforce their ideals; it’s also reflected in various forms of grievance politics with its canceling and raging.
People want to know if they matter. Without forgiveness, the possibility of cancellation looms. Christ’s payment on the cross reveals we’re forgiven with no strings attached. We’re valued and welcomed by God, and this frees us to value and welcome others as, historically, Christians have taught Western culture to forgive.
The early Christians understood how Christ’s payment proved God valued them. Roman culture was hierarchical, yet the Christians viewed all people as equal. This “subverted the power structures of the ancient world,” initiating “a new moral framework based on compassion and charity, which distinguished it from Roman society” (141). The gospel is compelling because forgiveness through Christ addresses what’s wrong and gives us hope to reconcile.
Being Valued
Billy Graham preached to the generations who, having endured two world wars, came to doubt the inevitability of human progress. Orr-Ewing recalls sitting with her parents in an amphitheater in Budapest, Hungary, where Graham spoke. The year was 1989, and the end of Communism allowed for religious gatherings inside a country familiar with oppression and atrocities.
Graham spoke of God’s justice. He didn’t hide the fact that payment for sin had to be made. Forgiveness was possible because Jesus fulfilled justice. Hungarians, jubilant, rushed the aisles. Graham described the event as miraculous, with the highest percentage of responders.
Our culture is losing forgiveness because it has forgotten that the source of true justice exists in the God who created us.
The gospel brings together both justice and forgiveness, which gives us the sort of freedom we long for. The cross enables authenticity for Christians—we can acknowledge who we really are behind the facade we show the world. Nothing is hidden from God. The gospel reminds us we’re valued even though we’ve failed.
God freely disperses forgiveness. This is true even when culture or the inner self disagrees. Orr-Ewing recognizes how hard it can be for someone who has been traumatized to forgive or receive forgiveness, even self-forgiveness. But she observes, “The crucifixion of God in the flesh speaks uniquely to our traumatized world” (85). Moreover, as we see in Scripture, “Whenever our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:20).
Divine forgiveness is a gift. Without forgiveness, we lose the reality that punishment for wrongdoing was satisfied in an embodied moment by God himself. Jesus fills our longings for justice and authenticity. We’re fully known and accepted by God, thus empowered to extend forgiveness to others.
This indeed looks different from the cancellation culture we’ve grown familiar with, yet for those weary of outrage, it’s time to remind our culture of the forgotten way. Forgiveness points readers to the gospel in hopes of healing a culture shaped by anger and bitterness.
