Dimensions of Forgiveness: Psychological Research & Theological Perspectives (Laws of Life Symposia Series, Volume I) (Volume 1)

The scientific study of forgiveness is a new approach to an age-old problem. For thousands of years, people have practiced forgiveness within religious systems. Now, the field of scholarly research on forgiveness reveals the beneficial aspects of the process.

Contributors include Elliot Dorff and Martin Marty, discussing religious interpretations, followed by social implications explained by Kenneth Pargament and Mark Rye. Roy Baumeister, Julie Exline, and Kristin Sommer present the victim’s point of view. Other contributors include Everett Worthington, Robert Enright, Catherine Coyle, Carl Thoresen, Frederic Luskin, and Alex Harris. An annotated bibliography by Michael McCullough, Julie Exline, and Roy Baumeister covers the empirical literature on the subject. Lewis Smedes concludes with the four steps necessary for forgiveness: moving from estrangement to forgiveness to reconciliation to hope.

Everett Worthington, Hr., retired from Virginia Commonwealth University on October 1, 2017. Everett was counseling couples professionally in the mid-1980s when he first became interested in the concept of forgiveness, and he began studying the topic scientifically in 1990. Since then, he has been a leader in the field of forgiveness research. From 1998 to 2005, he directed A Campaign for Forgiveness Research, a nonprofit organization that, during that time, awarded more than $6 million to studies on forgiving. He has also worked to help nurture researchers in other countries. Dr. Worthing is the author or editor of numerous books related to forgiveness.