Religion & Law

Patrick,

I agree with your claim that unconditional forgiveness is a Christian norm deeply rooted in our texts and tradition.  My recent essay on forgiveness in Islam concludes that there is a similar moral basis for unconditional forgiveness in Islam (though perhaps not as clear in the Quran as in the Sunnah and later jurisprudence).  I did note in my research that there are Rabbinic traditions that require affirmative steps on the part of the offender in order for forgiveness to be appropriate.  It is not clear to me that this position is universally accepted within Judaism, however.

Russ Powell