The Bible on Forgiveness: 133 (Princeton Theological Monograph)

What does the Bible say about forgiveness? It is a major subject in Scripture but it has been strangely overlooked by biblical scholars. Forgiveness is the amazing way that alienation can be healed and guilt assuaged and there is an extensive literature on the subject written largely by psychologists pastoral counselors and philosophers but until now anyone searching those many books for a thorough treatment of the Bibles message would have been frustrated. Now in a clear and concise form Donald E. Gowan has offered a survey of all that the Bible says about this crucial subject-from Genesis to Revelation. What kind of relationship can there be between a just God and a sinful people? Donald Gowan pursues this question by clearly unfolding the Bibles witness to the mysterious and abiding possibility of divine forgiveness. With so much pain in this world Gowan demonstrates why understanding how God forgives us and how we may live like God by forgiving others is both urgent and imperative. --Samuel E. Balentine Union Theological Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education Donald E. Gowan is the Robert Cleveland Holland Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He is the author of Theology in Exodus and Theology of the Prophetic Books among others; and his early books When Man Becomes God and Bridge between the Testaments are available from Wipf & Stock Publishers.