Examine The Role Of Forgiveness In Christianity

1314 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The teaching of christ on forgiveness

Forgiveness is one of Christianity and Islam’s greatest teachings. It is a value that is cherished by the religious and secular groups and bonds communities together by promoting acts of goodwill and compassion. Forgiveness seems to be a co-ordinal virtue within the Christian and Islamic religions, which express the importance of this value through teachings. Both Jesus and Mohammad convey the message that in order to be forgiven, you must first forgive others for the sins they may have committed. This subsequently links to the ultimate goal of salvation. However, in Islam, forgiveness is conditional on the person’s ability to repent; which differs from Christianity’s approach that enables limitless forgiveness. It is prudent to say that Jesus …show more content…

Christians believe that in order for God to forgive you for your sins, he first requires forgiveness. Thus implying that neutral forgiveness (forgiving someone who has done harm to you) and divine forgiveness (repent sinner receives a pardon) intertwine with each other. In Christianity, the virtue of forgiveness is to be practised by the followers. Forgiveness is then granted by God to those whom recognise their sins and forgive the sins of others. This notion is demonstrated in Matthew’s interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer which states “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us” (Matthew 6: …show more content…

In Christianity, the Bible alludes that the virtue of forgiveness is able to be granted limitlessly, considering we confess their sins and forgive others whom have committed sins. This is evident in Matthew 18:21-22; Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” However, in Islam forgiveness is not granted infinitely. Rather, Allah grants forgiveness to those who repent against their own sins, forgive others for the sins they may have sinned and believing in Allah (Forgiveness in Islam,

Show More
Related

  • Gospel Essentials Essay

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Christian faith focuses on the orientation of the human heart behind human thoughts and actions. Living by faith is a beautiful alternative to the way people think of themselves and the way they live in relation to others in their daily lives (Merrick, 2014). Christians see themselves in terms of God’s profound love for them but not in terms of what they do. The teachings of the Christian faith; nonviolence, non-retaliation, inward integrity, selflessness, and love your neighbor as yourself provide the framework for ethical thinking. Although, adopting belief in Christianity can bring forth confusion in the heart and mind causing agony of learning to sacrifice one’s rightful claims for personal justice for the restoration of another (Merrick, 2014). Unconditional forgiveness is difficult to understand because spiritual forgiveness and actual costly forgiveness is viewed as the same in the gospel. If you do not forgive, then one does not have faith in God’s forgiveness as it really is. Christianity influences a person thinking and behavior developing wisdom which requires faith. The faith that is needed to reorient the heart away from selfishness to selflessness.

    Read More

  • Comparing Forgiveness And Justice

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    Forgiveness and justice are very similar than we believe them to be. We believe that justice is

    Read More

  • Atonement In Islam Vs Christian Theism

    432 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ephesians 1:7(ESV) explains it this way, "In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace" and only through faith in Christ can humanity be saved with the hope of eternity with God in Heaven. The Islamic perspective is that only through humanities works and deeds that follows the commandments and laws of the Quran (as amplified by the Hadith and interpreted by the schools of the law, Shari'a) can be forgiven. Surah 25:7 in the Quran states, “And whosoever repents and does righteous good deeds, then verily, he repents towards Allah with true repentance.” However, it is of importance to also point out the similarities of forgiveness as it relates to the two worldviews. Both faiths believe that confession of sin should always be directed to God or Allah, that one should turn from their old ways with the intention to never do it again and that they should trust in the promises of God's forgiveness. They both also believe that true repentance is always open. Nevertheless, for the Islamic faith, forgiveness is through good deeds only. For the Christian Theism faith, it is through faith in Christ (John 14:6). Therefore, from an Islamic perspective, the hope of

    Read More

  • Simon Wiesenthal Forgiveness Quotes

    1675 Words  | 4 Pages

    Forgiveness is a process. You can still feel the pain, see the events behind your eyes, and feel the loss of the people around you but you have to find a way to forgive. People think that if you forgive someone you are forgetting or saying hey I would hang out with this person now because we’re cool but thats not at all what forgiveness is. Forgiveness is righting the wrong for yourself because you want the injustice you feel to leave. It’s acknowledging to that there a wrong that was done to you and you decide how you want to think about it not anyone

    Read More

  • Forgiveness in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Time heals all wounds." is a famous line in American history. I don't think that this is true. My line would be, "Forgiveness heals all wounds." I think that Forgiveness in a very important part of life. Without it, people can not move on with their lives. Let's take for instance a murderer and the family of the person he killed. The murderer may be sentenced to death. The family of the person who was killed could go in and watch the man that killed their family member be put to death. That may give them peace of mind, but they still can not completely move on. They must forgive murderer for killing the person before they can really move on with their lives. Once they do this it will be easier for them. A book that really illustrated this is The Scarlet Letter. In this book there are three main characters, Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne, and Roger Chillingworth. These three people either needed forgiveness or needed to forgive someone. Some got it, some didn't. Whether or not they received or gave forgiveness had a great impact in their lives.

    Read More

  • Eye For An Eye In The King James Version Of The Bible

    489 Words  | 1 Pages

    He proposed the benign value of forgiveness to his disciples. He said “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew

    Read More

  • Why Did Jesus Teach Christians To Forgive People Who Sinned?

    835 Words  | 2 Pages

    Forgive means if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father/Lord will also forgive you and your sins, but if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. The law of the bible says “you shall not commit adultery.” Adultery is a sexual relationship between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse. It has been considered a crime punishable even by death because it’s a sin against the husband.

    Read More

  • Atonement Vs Incarnation

    989 Words  | 2 Pages

    In theology, it is the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, especially as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ. Everyone who sins, and this, of course, refers to all humanity without omission, owes a great deal of indebtedness in recognition to God. Because we cannot take back or wipe out the ways in which we have disgraced God in the past, we stand convicted before our Lord. We are helpless to do anything on our part to restore His honor and be vindicated for our sins. This is why we are taught to pray and ask for forgiveness when we have done something

    Read More

  • The Five Teachings of Jesus

    304 Words  | 1 Pages

    Forgiveness (Luke 6:37): " Do not judge others, and God will not judge you; do not condemn others, and God will not condemn you; forgive others and God will forgive you." The passage teaches us that we should forgive others and we will be forgiven. We should treat others, as we want to be treated. Jesus never judged or condemned others no matter what they did to him.

    Read More

  • Forgiveness Positive Psychology

    1956 Words  | 4 Pages

    These negative emotions will then bring upon angered feelings and makes it hard for people to move on from the situation. Overall, forgiveness is the letting go of negative feelings toward someone who did us wrong. These negative feelings may ignite angered emotions, actions of revenge or other thoughts. With that in mind, many

    Read More

  • Teaching of Jesus Christ on Forgiveness

    1709 Words  | 4 Pages

    The substance of forgiveness is known to be an important thing and concept in the teaching of Jesus. In the Bible, Jesus has made it clear that unforgiveness is known to be a serious sin nurtured in the heart. As per Jesus Christ, it is said that the person needs to be forgiven even if a serious problem is caused due to him. If not, even we would not be forgiven from God. As per Jesus, if you forgive the sin done by the people, your heavenly will also forgive you if you have committed any sin. We would always want the heavenly father to forgive us for whatever wrong things or the mistakes that we do. In fact, we always think that it is the duty of God to forgive us. However, we never consider that the degree of offence we have done. We always think that he is the God and it is his prime duty to forgive us no matter what we do. But if somebody does the same thing to us, we always feel that it is not important to forgive them we think that we should not let them go just by forgiving them. Hence, the most important thing that needs to be considered here by us is that we should learn to forgive people (...

    Read More

  • Essay On Forgiveness

    1500 Words  | 3 Pages

    Forgiveness is the act of releasing an offender of any wrong or hurt they may have caused you whether they deserve it or not. It is a decision to let go of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group of people. When we choose to forgive, we’re wiping the slate clean, cancelling a debt, or as I love to say, “Letting it go.” In the Bible, the Greek word for forgiveness literally means to “let it go.” This concept, “forgiveness,” is easier said than done. Majority of people find it very difficult to let go of offenses and hurts caused by others. I really do believe that most people desire to let it go, but we lack the knowledge of how to do it. As believers, we are instructed by God maintain an attitude of forgiveness.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Revenge Essay

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    Forgiveness is really tough issues for individual’s life to practice because of the sense of our memory and the nature we are bearing and growing with it. If someone gets mad at us,

    Read More

  • Importance Of Forgiveness Essay

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    Forgiveness is all about finding what was lost and restoring the wholeness that one once had. Forgiveness does not mean we should condone evil or wrong doing that we experienced in our lives.

    Read More

  • Themes of Forgiveness in The Tempest by William Shakespeare

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    A strong Christian lesson on the true nature of forgiveness can be found in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount:

    Read More

More about Examine The Role Of Forgiveness In Christianity

Open Document