Wounds Not Healed by Time: The Power of Repentance and Forgiveness

by Solomon Schimmel

Book Overview

How should we respond to injuries done to us and to the hurts that we inflict on others? In this thoughtful book, Wounds Not Healed By Time, Solomon Schimmel guides us through the meanings of justice, forgiveness, repentance, and reconciliation. In doing so, he probes to the core of the human encounter with evil, drawing on religious traditions, psychology, philosophy, and the personal experiences of both perpetrators and of victims.
Christianity,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019517612X
• ISBN13: 9780195176124
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Not a "Feel-Good" Book

Dr. Schimmel offers an interesting look at the problems of forgiveness and repentance. He is not content with easy answers or platitudes; instead, he probes hard to try to find reasonable and satisfying answers to difficult questions about how, why, and when repentance can be completed and forgiveness extended. This is definitely not a "feel-good" book offering a quick, easy way out of our feelings of guilt and remorse, but it offers much food for thought to those who hunger for a greater understanding of the human situation.

Serious Religious Discussion of Forgiveness

Jewish readers will probably be tempted to read this book because the author explores forgiveness through a Hebrew lens: from the perspectives of the Bible, the Talmud, and modern psychotherapy. At times the author contrasts the Jewish view of forgiveness and repentance with Christian and Islamic models. Perhaps the best part of the book is the discussion of "steps" that can be taken by individuals who struggle to forgive those who have offended them. Indeed, if I find myself becoming hostile to another due to his/her wrongful conduct, I go back to this book to learn the techniques to soften my anger. As put by the author: "Mature forgiveness entails difficult emotional and intellectual work. It is a skill that needs to be cultivated, a virtue that needs to be acquired by self-training. When practiced thoughtlessly or simplistically, it is ineffective and counterproductive and can even be dangerous to oneself, to the person forgiven, and to society." Mr. Schimmel does not discuss his themes in "folksy" language. The author explores his topics intellectually, citing Maimonides, Freud, the Babylonian Talmud, Martin Buber, John Paul II, and Shakespeare. Very interesting...almost a classic.