The Impossible Possibility: Christ and the Problems of Forgiveness

by Caitlin Smith Gilson, Carol Scott (Illustrator), Michael Carlin (Foreword by)

Overview

This work is a meditation on the integral mystery of forgiveness as both impossible to achieve and yet necessary for salvation. We must forgive, yet we cannot. Through themes of loss, sin, love, and virtue in literature, art, poetry, and theology, Caitlin Smith Gilson shows us how the need for forgiveness is a universal longing that directs us to the very hope for eternal life. At the core of forgiveness resides the heart of Christ who alone can complete what is lacking in us yet so desired. In Christ, forgiveness becomes the impossible possibility.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798385227594
Publisher:	Cascade Books
Publication date:	11/14/2024
Series:	Kalos
Pages:	108
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.23(d)

About the Author

Caitlin Smith Gilson is professor of philosophy, St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Florida, and visiting professor of philosophy at Pontificia Università della Santa Croce, in Rome, Italy. She is associate editor of The New Ressourcement Journal through Word on Fire Academic.



Carol Scott is professor emeritus of art at University of Holy Cross. She is a gallery artist at Gallery 600 Julia in the prestigious Arts District of New Orleans, special artist at THE BUILDING Art Venue & Gallery.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“In an engaging style at once philosophical, prophetic, and literary—peppered with priceless quotes from Scripture, Teresa of Avila, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Ionesco, Camus, and more—Caitlin Smith Gilson here offers a profound meditation on forgiveness as, paradoxically, an impossible necessity. In so doing, by taking tensions seriously—and not collapsing mercy into justice or justice into mercy, as more facile solutions tend to do—she leads us further into the depths of the mystery of salvation in Christ.”

—John Betz, associate professor of theology, University of Notre Dame



“Few people truly forgive—it is too difficult. But we all desperately need forgiveness. So, what is to be done? In this extraordinarily profound book, Caitlin Smith Gilson calls us to the virtues that, by Christ's grace, make forgiveness possible, despite the vast scope of sin and victimization. Smith Gilson has emerged as one of the truly important voices of our era.”

—Matthew Levering, chair of theology, Mundelein Seminary



“The facticity of injustice continually tempts one to circumvent the very possibility of forgiveness and mercy. Yet, such a possibility stands on offer through the body, blood, and word of Christ who ever stands as a sign of contradiction, and who illumines the way through the heart of paradox. Caitlin’s philosophical acumen, couched in her raw, vivifying writing, and Carol’s artistic flair open multiple points of entry to consider this mystery, and to live it fully.”

—Joseph Terry, co-founder and managing director, Schola Sophia

Editorial Reviews

In an engaging style at once philosophical, prophetic, and literary—peppered with priceless quotes from Scripture, Teresa of Avila, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Ionesco, Camus, and more—Caitlin Smith Gilson here offers a profound meditation on forgiveness as, paradoxically, an impossible necessity. In so doing, by taking tensions seriously—and not collapsing mercy into justice or justice into mercy, as more facile solutions tend to do—she leads us further into the depths of the mystery of salvation in Christ.”

—John Betz, associate professor of theology, University of Notre Dame



“Few people truly forgive—it is too difficult. But we all desperately need forgiveness. So, what is to be done? In this extraordinarily profound book, Caitlin Smith Gilson calls us to the virtues that, by Christ's grace, make forgiveness possible, despite the vast scope of sin and victimization. Smith Gilson has emerged as one of the truly important voices of our era.”

—Matthew Levering, chair of theology, Mundelein Seminary



“The facticity of injustice continually tempts one to circumvent the very possibility of forgiveness and mercy. Yet, such a possibility stands on offer through the body, blood, and word of Christ who ever stands as a sign of contradiction, and who illumines the way through the heart of paradox. Caitlin’s philosophical acumen, couched in her raw, vivifying writing, and Carol’s artistic flair open multiple points of entry to consider this mystery, and to live it fully.”

—Joseph Terry, co-founder and managing director, Schola Sophia

From the Publisher