The Bible on Forgiveness

by Donald E. Gowan

Overview

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 Bible's 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498271356
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	02/01/2010
Series:	Princeton Theological Monograph Series , #133
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	236
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

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.
Donald E. Gowan, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, is an ordained minister in the United Presbyterian Church. Dr. Gowan received his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.

Table of Contents

Introduction: "I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins" ix

Part 1 The Old Testament

1 God Forgives Us 3

Sin, Judgment, and Mercy in Genesis and Exodus 1-31 3

Two Crises: A. The Golden Calf 8

Two Crises: B. The Exile 28

In the Meantime 61

2 We Forgive One Another 86

Part 2 The New Testament

3 God Forgives Us 93

Judaism in the Time of Jesus 93

The Apostolic Preaching 102

The Synoptic Gospels 114

The Letter to the Hebrews 150

The Apostle Paul 172

First John and the Rest of the New Testament 181

4 We Forgive One Another 200

Bibliography 213

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"What kind of relationship can there be between a just God and a sinful people? Donald Gowan pursues this question by clearly unfolding the Bible's 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

Editorial Reviews

"What kind of relationship can there be between a just God and a sinful people? Donald Gowan pursues this question by clearly unfolding the Bible's 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

From the Publisher