The exhortation to love one's enemies stands out as one of the most challenging of all of Christ's teachings, as the contents and obligations of such love are elusive, and their practical fulfillment is inescapably arduous. Between oneself and one's enemy stand an array of injustices and injuries that arouse layered emotional reactions, which often persist over extended periods of time. To love one's enemy is thus to rise above hurt, anger, resentment, and even hatred, and to offer instead the gift of mercy—to forgive.
In Pardon and Peace, Fr. John B. Burns provides a rich, interdisciplinary study of healing through interpersonal forgiveness, combining the findings of modern clinical psychology and the insights of St. Thomas Aquinas's theological anthropology. Utilizing the field-leading work of psychologist Robert Enright, Burns first outlines the tremendous progress made within the field of psychology in understanding interpersonal forgiveness as a process that moves in stages and inherently involves a range of emotions. He then incorporates the philosophical and theological gains of Aquinas, uniting and extending their shared lines of inquiry in order to develop a theological account of interpersonal forgiveness and to examine the place of forgiveness within a theology of healing. As Burns shows, the mutual fruitfulness of dialogue between psychology and theology furnishes new conclusions for both fields, holding promise not only for a better understanding of interpersonal forgiveness but also for its practical and pastoral applications.
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"Pardon and Peace integrates the best of contemporary positive psychology with the Thomistic tradition. Drawing on his extensive pastoral experience fostering recovery from trauma, Fr. Burns incorporates the science of forgiveness into a profoundly Catholic spirituality. This innovative theological synthesis with cognitive science offers a compassionate, practical guide for healing. It is essential reading for all who have the care of souls. This book also serves as a roadmap for all who strive to resemble our Heavenly Father, for by growing in the virtue of forgivingness we mirror God in his works of mercy."
"This remarkable book accomplishes the nearly impossible task of receiving a secular account of human healing and forgiveness and building upon it theologically in a way that does not end up simply 'translating' theological categories into secular ones, even as it fully receives the truth on offer in the secular account. In true Thomistic fashion, Fr. Burns shines the light of Revelation on the problem such that grace is shown to build on nature and in fact to reform it in its brokenness due to sin, and thus to heal all structures of human longing and fulfillment, including the natural process of forgiveness itself."
"My wife Sarah and I have been watching Fr. John Burns's ministry of forgiveness and healing for many years, so I am thrilled for the publication of his dissertation, Pardon and Peace. Drawing from psychologist Robert Enright and his extensive work on forgiveness, Fr. Burns shows how his contemporary work dovetails richly with the Christian tradition and St. Thomas's account of the virtues and passions in particular. In fact, Fr. Burns has exquisitely shown not only that Enright's work can be reconciled with Aquinas but that the two mutually enrich one another, creating a new synthesis. Developing a notion of resentment as both passion and vice and showing forgiveness to be the antidote, Fr. Burns distills how Enright gives us the model and process to bring Aquinas's thought to fruition—that is, how to go from hatred to love, from resentment to forgiveness. Fr. Burns shows the power of Enright's fourfold model to enact at a practical level the Christian charity we're called to. In fact, Fr. Burns shows how Enright gives us not only a four-stage process of forgiveness, but one that moves organically to our own healing as well. This work is theologically sound and insightful, both in his treatment of Aquinas and Enright and other psychological literature. It is also life-changing. Definitely a must-read for every pastor and theologian involved in sharing the Gospel and ministering to others! This work is sure to be a balm for those who preach and minister from its contents, but also for the readers themselves. Read and be changed anew in Christ Jesus, our Lord."
