The motive of forgiveness in the Gospel according to Matthew (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Jewish Background to Interpersonal Forgiveness in Matthew
Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology, Nairobi, Kenya, 2011
This essay seeks to contribute to Matthean scholarship by reconsidering the debate on the Jewish background to interpersonal forgiveness in Matthew. It proposes that Sirach 28:1-7 is not only a possible Jewish background to the parable of the unmerciful debtor of Matthew 18:23-35, as has been argued, but also to the teaching in Matthew 6:12, 14-15. This claim rests on five underlying concepts shared by both the Matthean and Sirach passages: conditionality (ie, a condition to be met before we can be forgiven); reciprocity (ie, our forgiveness is related to our willingness to forgive); the link between mercy and forgiveness; reluctance to practise mercy and forgiveness; and God's judgement on those who refuse to practise mercy and forgiveness. There is also a link that exists between these first two concepts in both the Matthean and Sirach passages. And there is a further, complex link that exists between the final three concepts listed above, a link that can be seen in both Matthew and Sirach.
Biblical Models for the Practice of Forgiveness in Public Life
Journal of Humanistic and Social Studies, Volume XI, No. 1 (21), 2020
The aim of this article is that to remind the fact that forgiveness is not a practice that should be held captive for the religious life of a person or human community. Rather, it should be a practice of the public life of a society. Yet, there are biblical models for such a practice of forgiveneness, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Therefore, for the biblical model embodied by the prophet Jeremiah, the article will continue with the biblical model embodied by John the Baptist. The two are proeminent figure in the Bible, one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. The third model is that embodied by Jesus Christ, the central person in the New Testament. From the exploration of the three models, the paper will continue with the coordinates of Church's participation in Christ's model. It will end with the way the practice of forgiveness is reflected in Romanian society and politics after 1989.
‘Jesus and the Grace of the Cross: Luke 23:34a and the Politics of “Forgiveness” in Antiquity,’
Journal of the Gospels and Acts Research 1 , 2017
T he historical authenticity of Jesus' prayer to God to forgive his enemies (Luke 23:34a: Πάτερ, ἄφες αὐτοῖς) is still debated by New Testament scholars. The disputed textual tradition underlying the verse and the ambiguous status of the internal arguments in favour of the logion have meant that a definitive answer to its authenticity remains elusive. 1 Where Luke 23:34 is accepted as an authentic Jesus logion, 2 scholarly discussion largely revolves around the identity of those whom Jesus forgives (Jews, Romans, or both?) and the 'ignorance' motif (Luke 23:34; cf. Acts 2:36; 3:17; 13:17; 17:30). Significant investigations of ἀφίημι and ἄφεσις have been undertaken, 3 but this discussion has not been brought into dialogue with the variegated understanding of forgiveness in antiquity and its dominant terminology (συγγνώμη; συγγιγνώσκω). The time is long overdue for a reappraisal of the authenticity and the import, socially and theologically, of the logion.
Some 20 years after the dawn of participative democracy, there is little noticeable or substantial change in the living conditions of the average South African. The country remains divided by race, class and economics. Poverty, inequality and racial enmity remain looming challenges to human flourishing and social transformation. Some have begun to ask whether forgiveness for the sins of colonialism and apartheid are possible. This article engages with the (im)possibilityof forgiveness as it is presented in Matthew 18:15-35. In particular, it does so from the bilingual perspective of a public theological engagement with the text and its contemporary readers in South Africa. By reading the text from an integral All Quadrants All Levels (AQAL) approach this article extrapolates a textured understanding of forgiveness that ‘possibilises’ the (im)possiblity of forgiveness between racially and socially divided groups of readers.
Repentance and forgiveness: Classical and patristic perspectives on a reformation theme
In die Skriflig / In Luce Verbi
This article argues that from classical to early modern times, repentance and forgiveness have been experienced as desired qualities for human coexistence in a fallible world. The early church Fathers reveal a basic continuity in expression of repentance between Christianity and the classical world, as the church sometimes resorted to prevailing cultural mechanisms for reconciliation. These included a common evaluation of the past and the public commitment to a different way of life. Christianity emphasised the vertical dimension of repentance, as it insisted on God as an involved party who was transgressed against by any form of horizontal human sin. This went far beyond the occasional provocation of individual gods by arrogance but was personal and relational in character. The church integrated the practice of repentance and conversion through special days and seasons, as well as by an emphasis on the Holy Scriptures as the divine standard for human living. Although formats differ...
Forgiving your neighbour: A comparative reading of Matthew 6:12 and Surah 3:134
Keywords: Christianity, gospel, Jesus, Islam, Qurʿān, Muhammad, forgiveness, comparative religion Abstract: This article focuses on the theme of human forgiveness in Surah 3 and Matthew 6. While various attempts have been made to harmonise Jesus’ and Muhammad’s teaching on it, the aim of this study was to investigate similarities and contrasts between them. Adopting a literary approach the two texts are explored in regard to their respective faith traditions rather than their historical formation and development. The present essay will first discuss Jesus’ and Muhammad’s view of human forgiveness. The second part is concerned with a comparative reading. A third section will work out a few selected contemporary reflections on human forgiveness both in Christianity and Islam. The exposition suggests that formal similarities do not necessarily point to substantial similarities.