Sexual abuse and forgiveness

Confusion abounds in the religious community regarding the relationship between sexual abuse and forgiveness. Often, religious leaders fail to recognize the complexity of the biblical doctrine of forgiveness, particularly as it is applied to malevolent evil such as sexual abuse. This article seeks to clarify the precise nature of forgiveness from an evangelical perspective and to explore the actual practice of forgiving sexual abusers. Special attention is given to the relevance of revenge in the forgiveness of sexual abuse. This model of forgiveness centers on a distinction between three types of biblical forgiveness: judicial, psychological, and relational.