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Forgiveness Can Be Painful

Consedine, Jim
June 4, 2015

Source: (2000) Paper presented at the Just Peace? Peace Making and Peace Building for the New Millennium conference, held in Auckland, New Zealand, 24-28 April. Auckland, New Zealand: Massey University, School of Social and Cultural Studies, Centre for Justice and Peace Development.

For many, forgiveness appears as weakness or as a betrayal. Jim Consedine, in contrast, maintains that forgiveness is a tough virtue requiring courage, a deep sense of humanity, and a gift of grace from God. On these bases, he identifies several key principles of forgiveness, summing them up with the point that forgiveness can be painful but it leads to healing and peace.

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