Book Review: Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Religion, Public Policy, and Conflict Transformation
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Book Review
This is a collection of essays exploring the meaning of forgiveness and its impact on policy.
Reviewed by Greg Strong.
This book grew out of an October 1999 symposium on Forgiveness and Reconciliation, sponsored chiefly by the John Templeton Foundation. The symposium and book constitute part of the continuing Campaign for Forgiveness Research, also made possible by the same foundation.
The book consists of essays or chapters organized around themes of forgiveness and reconciliation in relation to public policy and conflict transformation:
- Part I deals with the theology of forgiveness
- Part II, with forgiveness and public policy
- Part III, with forgiveness and reconciliation
- Part IV, with seeking forgiveness after tragedy.
Participants in the symposium and contributors to the book include public policymakers, theologians, and other academics. Biographical information on the authors is given at the end of the book. An appendix provides a list of worldwide organizations promoting forgiveness and reconciliation. Each listing contains contact information and a synopsis of the organization’s purpose and work.
Chapter Summaries:
A Theology of Forgiveness.
Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Justice.
Forgiveness and Reconciliation: An Orthodox Perspective.
Does Religion Fuel or Heal Conflict?
Religion and Peacemaking.
Religion and Foreign Policy.
The Role of Identity Reconstruction in Promoting Reconciliation.
What is Forgiveness in a Secular Political Form?
Unforgiveness, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation and their Implications for Societal Interventions.
Five Qualities of Practice in Support of Reconciliation Process.
Healing, Reconciliation, and Forgiving After Genocide and Other Collective Violence.
Hatred's End: A Christian Proposal to Peacemaking in a New Century.
Truth Commissions as Instruments of Forgiveness and Reconciliation.
Implementation of Track Two Diplomacy
Through Nonviolence to Truth
Brokenness, Forgiveness, Healing, and Peace in Ireland.
Forgiveness and Reconciliation in the Mozambique Peace Process.
Conversion as a Way of Life in Cultures of Violence.
Afterword: Exploring the Unique Role of Forgiveness.
April 2002
