pardon, absolution, clemency, mercy
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Forgiveness Definition from Arts & Humanities Dictionaries & Glossaries
Forgiveness Definition from Language, Idioms & Slang Dictionaries & Glossaries
(n.)
The act of forgiving; the state of being forgiven; as, the forgiveness of sin or of injuries.
The act of forgiving; the state of being forgiven; as, the forgiveness of sin or of injuries.
(n.)
Disposition to pardon; willingness to forgive.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter. AboutDisposition to pardon; willingness to forgive.
forgiveness
\for*give"ness\, n. [as. forgifnes.]
1. the act of forgiving; the state of being forgiven; as, the forgiveness of sin or of injuries. to the lord our god belong mercies and forgivenesses. ix. 9. in whom we have the forgiveness of sin. i. 7.
2. disposition to pardon; willingness to forgive. if thou, lord, shouldest mark iniquities, o lord, who shall stand? but there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. cxxx. 3, 4.
Noun
1. compassionate feelings that support a willingness to forgive
(hypernym) mercifulness, mercy
2. the act of excusing a mistake or offense
(synonym) pardon
(hypernym) kindness, benignity
(hyponym) condonation
Forgiveness Definition from Encyclopedia Dictionaries & Glossaries
Forgiveness is the renunciation or cessation of resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offense, disagreement, or mistake, or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution. The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness as 'to grant free pardon and to give up all claim on account of an offense or debt'. The concept and benefits of forgiveness have been explored in religious thought, the social sciences and medicine. Forgiveness may be considered simply in terms of the person who forgives including forgiving themselves, in terms of the person forgiven or in terms of the relationship between the forgiver and the person forgiven. In most contexts, forgiveness is granted without any expectation of restorative justice, and without any response on the part of the offender (for example, one may forgive a person who is incommunicado or dead). In practical terms, it may be necessary for the offender to offer some form of acknowledgment, an apology, or even just ask for forgiveness, in order for the wronged person to believe himself able to forgive.
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Forgiveness Definition from Religion & Spirituality Dictionaries & Glossaries
one of the constituent parts of justification. In pardoning sin, God absolves the sinner from the condemnation of the law, and that on account of the work of Christ, i.e., he removes the guilt of sin, or the sinner's actual liability to eternal wrath on account of it. All sins are forgiven freely (Acts 5:31; 13:38; 1 John 1:6-9). The sinner is by this act of grace for ever freed from the guilt and penalty of his sins. This is the peculiar prerogative of God (Ps. 130:4; Mark 2:5). It is offered to all in the gospel. (See JUSTIFICATION.)
Atonement Reconciliation brought about by a re-formation of the lower, so that it may become at one with the higher. Hence a number of Occidental mystics refer to the processes of atonement involving the foregoing idea as at-one-ment. In its best sense atonement means the becoming at one between the human ego and its spiritual counterpart, where the life or vitality of the lower personal man is offered up as a sacrifice, willing and utterly joyful, to the higher self. Thus the life which the hierophant is enjoined to offer is not his physical life, but the undesirable and imperfect life of his lower self, the selfish personality. The custom of sacrificing helpless animals -- a custom protested against by Gautama Buddha in particular -- is but an instance of the way in which lofty spiritual teachings or initiatory ceremonies can degenerate into repellent or cruel rites. Nevertheless, "the atonements by blood -- blood-covenants and blood transferences from gods to men, and by men, as sacrifices to the gods -- are the first keynote struck in every cosmogony and theogony; soul, life and blood were synonymous words in every language . . . The mystic meaning of the injunction, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves' [John 6:53] . . . [has] to be interpreted with the help of three keys -- one opening the psychic door, the second that of physiology, and the third that which unlocks the mystery of terrestrial being, by unveiling the inseparable blending of theogony with anthropology" (BCW 8:181-2).
to be continue "Atonement2"
to be continue "Atonement2"
Vicarious Atonement In Christian theology, the idea that God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as a substitution for the guilt incurred by man at the Fall, and that mankind will consequently escape punishment, provided that they accept by faith Jesus Christ's sacrifice. The idea that by an atoning for evil done or sin committed, one undoes the past -- broadened by Christian theology to include the doctrine of the vicarious atonement by some great spiritual being for the sins of others -- is a theory rejected by the theosophic philosophy. To those who believe the Christian doctrine that every person was born into this world burdened with inevitable doom through Adam's sin, such a compensatory doctrine seems to be necessary; but it discourages people's faith in their own innate divinity and in their power thereby to effect their own spiritual and moral salvation, and violates our sense of justice by offering a way of avoiding the consequences of our own bad actions -- which avoidance of sin already incurred is distinctly denied in several places in the New Testament where the ancient theosophical doctrine of karma is taught that as a man sows, that (and not something else) must he invariably reap. Vicarious atonement may be a distorted doctrine of reconciliation, in Christian notion reconciliation between God and man; also of the idea that the spiritual monad in man takes on itself the consequences for actions or "sins" committed by the less evolved human monad. Every human being is raised by the sacrifice made by the Christos within himself, so that whoever believes in and conforms his acts to his own spiritual nature, is "saved." See also At-One-Ment
