The Face of Forgiveness: A Pastoral Theology of Shame and Redemption

by Philip Jamieson

Publisher:

IVP Academic

, 2016

Overview

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.

Key Features

• Addresses this dilemma and present a way forward.
• Shows how traditional Western atonement models have frequently failed to deal adequately.
• Concludes by offering several strategies to aid Christians.

Contents

Acknowledgments
1. Whatever Happened to the Forgiveness of Sins?
2. Covering Our Nakedness: Healing Through Therapy
3. Guilt and Shame
4. Opened Eyes and Downturned Faces
5. The Shame of the Cross
6. "As One from Whom Others Hide Their Faces . . ."
7. Living Before Christ’s Face
Epilogue: Answer to Jane
Notes
Bibliography
General Index
Scripture Index

Praise for The Face of Forgiveness: A Pastoral Theology of Shame and Redemption

Philip Jamieson has written a very important book. Here is pastoral theology built on the ministry of the triune God of grace as understood within the ecumenical sweep of classical theology. In particular, here is pastoral theology in close dialogue with the atonement developed in trinitarian and incarnational terms. Jamieson recasts the work of pastoral care as helping each other face Christ who is God’s assurance of God’s love for us. The issue all along—shame—has been fear of the loss of love. With this book Jamieson stakes out a bold claim for pastoral theology as theology, and as such, thankfully, can attest to the redemption of shame as we behold ourselves in the eyes of Christ.

-Andrew Purves, Jean and Nancy Davis Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

In this fine little book, Jamieson offers a Christ-centered reframing of forgiveness that shows how shame exceeds guilt as humanity’s worst predicament before God and one another, and how the face of Christ provides the best therapeutic remedy. A good example of both pastoral theology and Christian psychology, the work strongly reflects a scripturally-driven agenda and the author’s Christian theological tradition, both of which shape how contemporary psychology is skillfully interpreted and appropriated, while noting its worldview biases and limitations. Highly recommended.

-Eric L. Johnson, Lawrence and Charlotte Hoover Professor of Pastoral Care, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Philip D. Jamieson’s work The Face of Forgiveness is a wise and winsome account of a theme often neglected in pastoral care and theology. Jamieson contends that it is not simply sin and guilt that tears at human hearts and minds. Shame is just as destructive, for it pierces who we are. This book is theologically rich, pastorally insightful and carefully written. At the heart of the book, scholars and pastors will find a deep trinitarian account of how Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension heal human shame. Jamieson’s profound and compelling work is pastoral theology at its best, drawn from a deep well of scholarship and wide-ranging pastoral practice.

-Elmer M. Colyer, professor of systematic theology, Stanley Professor of Wesley Studies, The University of Dubuque Theological Seminary

Product Details

• Title: The Face of Forgiveness: A Pastoral Theology of Shame and Redemption
• Author: Philip Jamieson
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2016
• Logos Release Date: 2016
• Pages: 184
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• ISBNs: 9780830899531, 9780830840991, 0830899537, 0830840990
• Resource ID: LLS:9780830899531
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-12-18T19:49:12Z

About Philip Jamieson

Philip D. Jamieson, (PhD, Boston College) is president of the United Methodist Foundation for the Memphis and Tennessee Annual Conferences. He is coauthor of Ministry and Money with Janet Jamieson. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and formerly taught pastoral theology at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary.