Forgiveness and Justice: A Christian Approach
By Brian Maier
The book seems geared toward
professional counselors because of the language used. When you say
“theological” rather than “Biblical,” you are appealing to theologians, rather
than your average church worker. The same with words like, “models,”
“construct,” “conceptual,” and even the word “justice.” So, the book is for
Christian therapists who are up on the lingo, but lack somewhat in their
theological formation. It is not easy to apply what’s learned in a secular
classroom to the lives of Christians, especially because the two worldviews are
widely disparate. The world accepts many things as given that a Christian must
pause and ask of God’s Word before deciding whether it’s something good, bad,
or even none of the above. Given these, is the book useful?
Yes, it is,
if for none other reason that most Christian Therapists are lacking in Biblical
formation. Reading this book will at least cause them to mentally engage with
their Bibles and, therefore, with God’s opinions, on subjects they deal with on
a daily basis. More than “evolved ape-like creatures,” humans are created in
God’s image and cannot be reduced to a set of behaviors (that many think are
easily changed given the right motivations), rather, many problems that our
people face have to do with sin, whether their own, or those that others have
done against them.
To leave
Christ and His Word outside of the Psychologist’s room is the worst mistake one
could make (while at the same time allowing the disciples of Freud, Rogers and
Jüng in to assist). I truly hope Christian counselors/therapists, etc. get a
hold of this book; if for no other reason that it is a serious attempt to
engage these topics with Scripture.
The book
needs a new cover, and perhaps even an editor’s hand to make its message more
accessible to the masses, but it is a great read for anyone engaging clients
(or fellow brothers or sisters) that have forgiveness issues.
4/5 Stars
Disclaimer: The book was received for free from Kregel
Ministry books in exchange for an unbiased opinion.
