Please HONOR the copyright of these documents by not retransmitting or making any additional copies in any form (Except for private personal use). We appreciate your respectful cooperation. ___________________________ Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) P.O. Box 30183 Portland, Oregon 97294 USA Website: www.tren.com E-mail: [email protected] Phone# 1-800-334-8736 ___________________________ ATTENTION CATALOGING LIBRARIANS TREN ID# Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) MARC Record # FORGIVING OTHERS: A GROUP LEARNING EXPERIENCE FROM A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE A TRAINING MANUAL SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY RANDY B. CROOK MAY 2008 Forgiving Others: A Group Learning Experience from a Biblical Perspective Randy B. Crook Doctor of Ministry 2008 School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary The purpose of this training manual with attached curriculum is to present a learning experience for the members of Heritage Bible Church in which they will broaden their understanding of biblical forgiveness; learn to distinguish between hurts arising from the intentional, sinful actions of others and those occurring from amoral life experiences; discern when biblical forgiveness is called for; understand the need to go beyond merely speaking words of forgiveness to seeking reconciliation; and develop skills for reducing hurts that fracture personal relationships. Hurts from personal conflicts lessen the joy of the Christian walk. Additionally, everyone has been impacted by hurts that come simply from living in a fallen world. Sometimes hurts come about by the sinful attitudes and actions of others and, at other times, by actions or events that are not the result of a sinful act. While the hurt from these two occasions may feel the same, the path to resolution may be different. Christians often fail to distinguish between these two types of hurts, making repairing relationships more difficult. Heritage Bible Church is a small, non-denominational ministry founded in 2001 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This new congregation and I, its new pastor, both brought experiences of conflict from the recent past. The attached group learning experience will direct the Heritage Bible Church adult Sunday school class in a study of biblical forgiveness. The desired outcome is a biblical foundation for forgiveness that issues forth in both motivation and skills for restoring fractured relationships and reducing hurts that damage or destroy relationships. This paper contains three major sections. The first section lays a contextual and theological foundation for the training manual. It overviews three popular models of forgiveness found in contemporary Christian writings and evaluates these models through a study of relevant biblical passages. The second section describes the intended learning outcomes, teaching design, and method for assessment. The third section is an appendix presenting the curriculum completed by the participants of Heritage Bible Church. Theological Mentor: Kurt Fredrickson, DMin Words: 350 To my granddaughter, Marinna Joy: May you receive and grant forgiveness CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. vi INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................1 PART ONE: CONTEXT AND FOUNDATIONS FOR CURRICULUM Chapter 1. DISCOVERING THE NEED TO UNDERSTAND FORGIVENESS .................6 The Personal Context of Hurts While at Bethesda Church ..............................6 The Corporate Context of Hurts within Heritage Bible Church .....................14 2. THE THREE POPULAR MODELS OF FORGIVENESS – PART 1 ...............18 The Three Models ...........................................................................................19 Model One – Therapeutic Forgiveness ...........................................................19 3. THE THREE POPULAR MODELS OF FORGIVENESS – PART 2 ...............30 Model Two – Judicial Forgiveness .................................................................30 Model Three – Restorative Forgiveness .........................................................38 4. THE BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS OF FORGIVENESS ..................................42 Old Testament Foundations ............................................................................42 New Testament Foundations ..........................................................................44 5. AN EVALUATION OF POPULAR MODELS OF FORGIVENESS ...............54 Evaluation of the Therapeutic Model .............................................................54 Evaluation of the Judicial Model ....................................................................60 Evaluation of the Restorative Model ..............................................................61 Summary .........................................................................................................63 iv PART TWO: DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT OF CURRICULUM 6. DESIGNING FORGIVING OTHERS .................................................................64 The Ultimate Goal ..........................................................................................64 Intended Outcomes .........................................................................................66 Selected Teaching Methods ............................................................................70 Assumptions ...................................................................................................72 7. ASSESSMENT OF FORGIVING OTHERS .......................................................74 Course Survey .................................................................................................74 Course Evaluation ...........................................................................................83 Conclusion ......................................................................................................84 APPENDICES INCLUDING CURRICULUM 1. FORGIVING OTHERS (CURRICULUM) .........................................................85 Session One: The Three Popular Models of Forgiveness ...............................87 Session Two: The Old Testament Foundations of Forgiveness ...................105 Session Three: The New Testament Foundations of Forgiveness ................121 Session Four: Rethinking Sin, Offense, and Hurt.........................................135 Session Five: Rethinking Repentance and Reconciliation ...........................150 Session Six: Rethinking Our Model of Forgiveness .....................................164 2. SURVEY STATEMENTS AND QUESTIONS ...............................................177 3. EVALUATION STATEMENTS AND QUESTIONS .....................................179 4. OPINIONS ON DEFINITIONS OF FORGIVENESS .....................................180 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................183 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the members of Heritage Bible Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for their gracious and invaluable assistance in this project. I extend a special thank you to Becky, Bob, Carolyn, Sally, Tim, and Win who read the manuscript and offered many helpful suggestions. I sincerely appreciate the encouragement and prayers of the monthly care group: Carolyn, Eva, Galen, John, Rob, Robin, and Win. I am grateful for the assistance of Brad and Bruce, friends and colleagues, who graciously imparted honest opinions on specific sections of the manuscript. I am indebted to Palmer and Roy, both of whom consistently encouraged me during the writing process. I also wish to express my appreciation to the elders and deacons of Bethesda Church in Huron, South Dakota, for their faithful support of my ministry there. As I recall the many within that congregation who love me with an unconditional love, the memories of the harsh winters simply melt away. I am privileged to have been loved so sincerely. To my daughters, Megan and Erica, I wish to express my sincere and genuine gratitude for their consistent encouragement during this project. My final thanks belongs to Robin Ann, my gracious wife, who edited and proofed my manuscript and who participated in much dialogue with me through the years on the topic of forgiveness. vi INTRODUCTION Many people love to hike in the mountains as I do. When one is unfamiliar with a new or infrequently visited area, maps and marked trails are essential tools enabling the hiker to reach the desired destination. One might pause for a moment and picture forgiveness as a mountain whose peak soars upward to fourteen thousand feet. As the hiker anticipates climbing the mountain of forgiveness, he inquires at the base camp as to the best trail. What if, however, there are several paths to choose from at the base of the mountain and the hiker is unable to decipher which trail is best? Or worse yet, what if it is not just a matter of which trail is best but which trail will actually traverse the mountain all the way to the summit of forgiveness? In 2002, I began what I thought would be a very short hike. The selected map was a popular Christian book on forgiveness. I was surprised where this map took me, so I picked up another book for comparison purposes, and then another. I soon discovered that Christian forgiveness is approached in three different ways in popular