Forgiveness And Abuse

Forgiveness And Abuse: Jewish And Christian Reflections.
Editors: Marie Fortune and Joretta Marshall.
Routledge. 2004. ISBN: 9780789022523.

​Forgiveness And Abuse explores how Jewish and Christian traditions handle forgiveness in the context of sexual and domestic abuse, including clergy abuse.  It explores theological essays on repentance, atonement, and obligations to forgive, using sources from Jewish law and Christian theology; empirical work comparing Jewish and Christian responses to forgiveness and mental health; case-focused pieces on child and adult abuse by clergy, and the roles of victims, abusers, and church institutions; and narrative genres (through short story, midrash, parish vignettes) to convey lived experience and pastoral dynamics. The major theological-ethical emphases resist “forgive and forget” rhetoric as pastorally dangerous and potentially harmful to survivors’ healing. Contributors adopt a victim‑oriented hermeneutic, explicitly critiquing patriarchal patterns and religious practices that pressure victims toward premature or coerced forgiveness. At the same time, they avoid categorical claims that forgiveness is either always required or always impossible; instead they treat it as context‑dependent and sometimes clinically/spiritually beneficial when grounded in justice and truth‑telling.
 
Rev. Dr. Marie M. Fortune is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and a leading figure in religious responses to sexual and domestic violence. She is the founder and senior analyst of the FaithTrust Institute in Seattle (formerly the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence), an international, multifaith organization focused on ending abuse by clergy and within religious communities.
 
Joretta L. Marshall is a pastoral theologian and educator. Her work in pastoral care and counselling informs the book’s attention to how congregations, ministers, and caregivers handle pressures around forgiving abuse and the impact this has on survivors’ healing and communal accountability.