The Face of Forgiveness: A Pastoral Theology of Shame and Redemption By Philip D. Jamieson Paperback 0830840990 9780830840991 The Face of Forgiveness: A Pastoral Theology of Shame and Redemption Jesus tells Peter to forgive not seven times, but seventy seven times (Matt 18:22), and the atoning work of Christ is at the center of Christian thought. Yet many followers of Christ often struggle with offering or receiving forgiveness. The Face of Forgiveness seeks to address this dilemma and present a way forward. Utilizing contemporary distinctions between shame and guilt, Philip Jamieson shows how traditional Western atonement models have frequently failed to deal adequately with the full extent of Christs victory. Jesus Christ has answered the problem of both human guilt and shame. It is only in facing Christ that we find our sins forgiven and receive a new identity. The author concludes by offering several strategies to aid Christians in understanding and appropriating the fullness of Gods loving and forgiving work.

This face is different For this face in its downward gaze is not looking away from his neighbors he is looking at them The last act of the dying Savior is to fix his gaze upon those who are in need of salvation Our forgiveness has already been pronounced Lk 23 34 and now the dying God provides the means to accept it Karl Barth notes there is no other face like Jesus Jesus is the face that will not look away Jesus is the face that sees all and still loves all Jesus face alone is the one that has power to forgive and to give us the healing power to accept that forgiveness p 114. Jamieson then discusses three important practices.

Jesus alone reveals both the fullness of God and the necessary human response to God s reality And even precisely Jesus face is the face of eternal love a love that is steadfast and sureThe secondary truth is completely dependent on the first one Without a realization of the first we dare not contemplate the second onehow I live my life how I respond to my neighbor and to God s gracious overtures will either empower or weaken my ability to perceive that first and primary truth Pages 9 10 Jamieson goes on to further explain we run in shame away from the God of love God loves us and He does not turn away from us but we turn away from Him. The book answers the primary question as to why we turn away from God In a later chapter six defending strategies are taught The Face of Forgiveness is addressed mainly to those people who have a hard time forgiving themselves Several points are explored God s work in forgiving guilt shame misinformation about forgiveness and confession. I m happy he made a point of including in the book those people in the church who do not extend grace and mercy We ve all witnessed or even felt those church members who with brazen eyes condemn. Jamieson uses the temptation and fall in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve s sin as a primary Scripture passage Adam and Eve hid from God after they sinned because they felt shame. My favorite section is pages 52 67 The first subtitle of this section is The Subjective Nature of Guilt Several points in this section rang true for me in my life in looking back in my life I literally ran away as a teenager because of shame over a sin I d not even committed This was just one reason I ran away but a strong contributing factor. The beauty of the book is God is love Jesus is the face that will not look away from us Philip D Jamieson I really enjoyed reading this book The author does his work well and leads the reader to grasp forgiveness from God and in community His demonstration of the difference between shame and guilt and how the life and death of Jesus Christ conquers both was powerful It was well executed It was patient but not bashful. Whether you are dealing with shame and guilt intending to provide support to others in that boat or are willing to prepare for those future realities I would certainly encourage reading this book It is not an easy read always but it is a good read Philip D Jamieson Summary Explores the struggle of many in experiencing and granting forgiveness and what the author believes are inadequate understandings of the atonement that fail to deal with our shame as well as our guilt and how in fact the work of Christ addresses both. Philip Jamieson begins this book with a pastoral situation many of us have faced someone sits across from us and confesses that they find themselves unable to forgive another person because of the awful ways that person has offended They want to observe Jesus words about forgiving the trespasses of others but they simply cannot. What follows is an extended discussion of the nature of forgiveness Jamieson considers the recent renewal of interest in forgiveness in modern psychology There is much that is helpful and even biblical yet he believes particularly in the separation of forgiveness from reconciliation and the detachment of forgiveness from the work of Christ these models of forgiveness fall short. He also contends that part of our problem in people struggling both with being forgiven and extending forgiveness has to do with theories of the atonement that focus on sin s guilt to the exclusion of sin s shame Our downturned faces and the inability to look into the faces of others contributes to this alienation both from God and others Jamieson would not jettison the existing theories of the atonement but rather focuses on how it is that Christ both bears our shame and is victorious over it in the cross and the resurrection This is the face of forgiveness which he describes in this way In his last act high and lifted up Jesus the man who fully reveals God now fully revealed joins sinful humanity in our downward gaze Jesus dies in the posture of shame embracing the world s shame It is finished The face once set like a flint Isaiah 50 7 on his way to Jerusalem to this very death Lk 9 51 now stares unblinkingly downcast bearing humanity s shame He joins all of us solidarity with the shamed But again all communal where we learn to live before Christ s face experiencing his forgiveness removing our shame and our guilt and enabling us to do this with those who have sinned against us He calls for confession for small groups where we talk honestly about issues of guilt and shame and worship where we confess together as a church in our worship of the Triune God. Jamieson concludes the book with his answer to Jane the parishioner asking about forgiveness an answer rooted in the rich pastoral theology of this book And that is what we are given in 157 pages of text We are brought to reflect deeply on the consequences in the human psyche of the pretensions to god hood of each of us re enacting the sin of the first couple We explore the nature of shame our penchant to run from God and how this is addressed in the work of the cross It isn t just something we have to get over as people whose guilt is pardoned Shame too has been borne. What I most appreciate about this is that while it is a pastoral theology of shame and redemption it is rooted in good systematic and historical theology I also appreciate how it is also rooted in the church and a theology of grace Forgiveness is not presented as an individual effort to think better of ourselves and others but as a corporately supported reality that recognizes the continuing presence and power of Christ at work in his people gathered While cognizant of psychology this is the care of souls rooted in a fresh appreciation of the theology we preach pray and enact in worship each week Refreshing Philip D Jamieson Actually I wrote it so I ll leave it to others to rate it I hope that all who read it find it of help Philip D Jamieson Jamieson decries the incomplete answers to shame promoted by contemporary psychological models and seeks deeper roots in Christian theology and philosophy Whatever happened to sin Moreover the dominant Western models of atonement often fail to address the shame problems of people today The Triune God however suffered shame and Jesus crucifixion was the ultimate shame redeemed so we could walk with God face to face Philip D Jamieson

The Face of Forgiveness: A Pastoral Theology of Shame and Redemption By Philip D. Jamieson

0830840990

9780830840991

English

184

Paperback

Jesus tells Peter to forgive not seven times but seventy seven times Matt 18 22 and the atoning work of Christ is at the center of Christian thought Yet many followers of Christ often struggle with offering or receiving forgiveness The Face of Forgiveness seeks to address this dilemma and present a way forward Utilizing contemporary distinctions between shame and guilt Philip Jamieson shows how traditional Western atonement models have frequently failed to deal adequately with the full extent of Christ s victory Jesus Christ has answered the problem of both human guilt and shame It is only in facing Christ that we find our sins forgiven and receive a new identity The author concludes by offering several strategies to aid Christians in understanding and appropriating the fullness of God s loving and forgiving work The Face of Forgiveness A Pastoral Theology of Shame and Redemption.

. My first thought while reading this book is Jamieson writes with an attitude of mercy and tenderness