The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World
Written by Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu
Narrated by Mpho Tutu and Hakeem Kae-Kazim
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Chair of The Elders, and Chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, along with his daughter, the Reverend Mpho Tutu, offer a manual on the art of forgiveness—helping us to realize that we are all capable of healing and transformation.
Tutu's role as the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission taught him much about forgiveness. If you asked anyone what they thought was going to happen to South Africa after apartheid, almost universally it was predicted that the country would be devastated by a comprehensive bloodbath. Yet, instead of revenge and retribution, this new nation chose to tread the difficult path of confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
Each of us has a deep need to forgive and to be forgiven. After much reflection on the process of forgiveness, Tutu has seen that there are four important steps to healing: Admitting the wrong and acknowledging the harm; Telling one's story and witnessing the anguish; Asking for forgiveness and granting forgiveness; and renewing or releasing the relationship. Forgiveness is hard work. Sometimes it even feels like an impossible task. But it is only through walking this fourfold path that Tutu says we can free ourselves of the endless and unyielding cycle of pain and retribution. The Book of Forgiving is both a touchstone and a tool, offering Tutu's wise advice and showing the way to experience forgiveness. Ultimately, forgiving is the only means we have to heal ourselves and our aching world.
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. In 1986 he was elected archbishop of Cape Town, the highest position in the Anglican Church in South Africa. In 1994, after the end of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela, Tutu was appointed as chair of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate apartheid-era crimes. His policy of forgiveness and reconciliation has become an international example of conflict resolution and a trusted method of postconflict reconstruction. He is currently the chair of The Elders, where he gives vocal defense of human rights and campaigns for the oppressed.
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Reviews for The Book of Forgiving
58 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is the best book on forgiveness I loved it really help me have a change of heart
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5While we seek forgiveness what is forgiveness without JESUS CHRIST? Another act at trying to build a house of cards in front of a fan at full speed. Archbishop I believe this was and still is the ONLY way to get healing. Not by self-help, I see all the acts prescribed as good but there is the nudging feeling that there is something FAR MUCH GREATER missing, JESUS CHRIST. If only JESUS was not relegated to one sentence in the whole book while we tried to figure out the rest by ourselves.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I like that this book had exercises, meditation and guided journaling at the end of each chapter.
Sometimes it got a bit dragged down by the tragic stories of those who forgave or sought forgiveness but I still think it’s an excellent book. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The principles in this book attest to the God-given agency of all to love and forgive in spite of any trial or circumstance.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Someone gave me this book at a time when I really needed to forgive another person. I wasn't ready to read it at the time, but I find that now -- six years later -- I value the insights and advice the book has to offer. Written by Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter, Mpho, the book has plenty of narrative but also journaling exercises and rituals that can be helpful in "letting go" of injuries and ruptures in relationship caused by others -- or ourselves.Audience: Those who struggle with forgiveness will benefit from reading this book and performing the exercises it proposes. Fans of the writing and life's work of Desmond Tutu will receive deeper insight into the thinking and practices of this great spiritual exemplar.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a book written by the Archbishop of Capetown, and tells more of the story of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, plus the story of Mpho (Desmonds daughter) whose housekeeper was killed in a gruesome murder. I did persuade our church to read this book on the Wednesdays after Easter (2019). A fourfold path is laid out for asking forgiveness:
1. Telling the Story.(the physical story)
2. Naming the Hurt.(the emotional aspect)
3. Granting Forgiveness (the hard part of clearing the burden
4. Renewing or Releasing the Relationship (determining the future).
This book also talks about needing forgiveness (where you did the deed) and another chapter finding the ability to forgive yourself.