Forgiveness and Peace

Guest Post by John L. Knapp

The vast anguish of nations and individuals alike has never been distant from my thoughts and prayers. I often ponder and reflect on the persistent question: Is it possible to restore the moral and social order subjected to such hostility? My rational conviction insures me that the upset order cannot be wholly restored without the union of justice with forgiveness. Thus, the mainstay of true peace is justice combined with that form of love which is forgiveness.

But in our current circumstances, can we speak of justice and forgiveness as the foundation and condition of peace? Yes, we can and we must, no matter how hard this may be. Yet forgiveness is the converse of resentment, not of justice; when in fact, true peace is the work of justice. Here is what Saint Augustine had to say about this, “… that the peace which can and must be built in this world is the peace of right order or the tranquility of order.” Consequently, true peace is the fruit of justice that ensures the moral virtue and legal assurance that brings forth full respect for rights and responsibilities, and the just division of benefits and burdens. But because human justice is always frail and imperfect; it must embrace and be fulfilled by the forgiveness which heals and mends distressed human relations from their very foundations.

This is true in a personal level or on a broader, even international scale. Forgiveness is not at all opposed to justice; forgiveness was never meant to ignore the need to right the wrong done. It is rather the breadth of justice, leading to that tranquility of order which is a great deal more than a temporary ending of aggression; it involves the deepest healing of the wounds which exist in humanity. Justice and forgiveness work together to provide such healing. Thus, forgiveness and peace offers all humanity the opportunity to reflect upon the demands of justice and the call to forgiveness in the face of the weighty problems which presently afflict our world today.