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    Forgive 70 x 7: Our Forgotten Power
    Forgive 70 x 7: Our Forgotten Power
    Forgive 70 x 7: Our Forgotten Power
    Ebook85 pages33 minutes

    Forgive 70 x 7: Our Forgotten Power

    By Dr Clement T DeWall

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    About this ebook

    About the book’s title: Forgive 70 X 7 Our Forgotten Power":

    In 1998 DeWall published a work called “Escaping the Mental Straightjacket: Personal Experience As Our Spiritual Guide.” His purpose was to encourage the reader to think for oneself and recognize the many ways in which society and religion control our world view and the way we think. He analyzed many extraordinary experiences, such as near-death and out-of-body experiences, after-death communications and various psychic phenomena. He wanted to show that the unusual, the paranormal and the psychic are for the most part in total harmony with basic Christianity.

    His approach in writing “Forgive 70 X 7: Our Forgotten Power” was different. First, he decided to use the Bible (especially the Gospels) and history as his primary sources. But his primary purpose was to explain the basic teachings of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels.

    For DeWall, the focus of Jesus’ teaching was on forgiveness. Regretfully, what he taught is not what most Christians believe. The common belief for most is that forgiveness is a gift Jesus came to give — a gift we can receive only if we have sufficient sorrow. On the contrary, Jesus never mentioned sorrow as a prerequisite for being forgiven. Instead, we are forgiven only insofar as we forgive others, as the Lord’s Prayer so aptly states. In Jesus’ terms, forgiveness is not so much a gift he gives to us as a gift we are to give to others. That is why he subtitled the book “Our Forgotten Power.” Topics related to forgiveness include confession, baptism, grace and salvation.

    As with everything DeWall has written, he is not concerned if his readers disagree with his conclusions. He only wants them to examine what Jesus actually said and how our beliefs changed over time — then make up their minds for themselves.

    Jesus’ teachings were radical for his time, so much so that his hearers must have been startled by what he said. We will react the same way, if we can peel away our conventional beliefs to discover what he actually said.

    “I do not write to convert others to my way of thinking,” DeWall says. “I believe that theology is the domain of every person. Of course, I do want my opinions to be seriously considered, but I first want my readers to think for themselves. If they do that, disagreement is not important.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDr Clement T DeWall
    Release dateMar 24, 2011
    ISBN9781604143454
    Forgive 70 x 7: Our Forgotten Power
    Author

    Dr Clement T DeWall

    Clement DeWall is a graduate of the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy and received a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado. He has lectured in the US and Canada, and his books include Escaping the Mental Straightjacket and Saving Remarriage from Guilt-and-Punishment Theology. He is married with two adult children and two grandchildren and has retired from careers in ministry and data processing.He was born in Oklahoma and raised in Dodge City, Kansas, during his grade school years. His father was a retail store manager, and he moved often. He spent about a year in Rapid City, South Dakota; then went to high school in Loveland, Colorado. He considers Colorado my home state.In 1947, he lost his brother, Calvin, to rheumatic fever, which he got while in the Navy. He was 14 at the time, and his parents and he turned to religion for comfort and answers. Since one of his older brothers had become a Catholic, the Roman Catholic Church became the family’s spiritual home, and all matters religious became of interest to him.His first published writings were in magazines: articles for religious education or homilies for priests to use in Sunday sermons. This was in the 1960s, when the Second Vatican Council raised his hopes for religious and spiritual renewal in all the Christian churches.Later he became intensely interested in near-death and other extraordinary or paranormal experiences. He remembers that his mother had many unusual psychic experiences; those memories, previously ignored, became more treasured, and he read extensively about the paranormal. As a result, his theology expanded to use a wider spectrum of human experience as its base.DeWall believes he has a message to convey and something new to say. In discussion groups, his opinions and views have been well received. He derives satisfaction in knowing that he has had a positive influence on a few, just as others have influenced him. His friends and family have encouraged him to reach a wider audience.“I do not write to convert others to my way of thinking,” DeWall says. “I believe that theology is the domain of every person. Of course, I do want my opinions to be seriously considered, but I first want my readers to think for themselves. If they do that, disagreement is not important.”Information about DeWall’s background and his Ministry:He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1958 and resigned in 1976 because he could no longer support the doctrines of the Catholic Church concerning divorce and remarriage. In 1977, he graduated with a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver; and a short time afterward he published a work titled “Saving Remarriage from Guilt-and-Punishment Theology,” based on his degree research.His current ministry is within the Federation of Christian Ministries, of which his wife and he are co-presidents. FCM is a national organization that helps persons of any church to practice their ministry. If a member wishes, he or she can obtain from FCM an official or legal authorization to perform various types of ministry, such as to officiate at weddings, baptize, perform funerals or do healing or worship services. FCM certification is legally equivalent to ordination. On the local level, DeWall and his wife are available for all these services. He considers writing a part of his ministry, and he writes an article for each FCM newsletter, Diaspora, which is published bimonthly.DeWall’s main pastimes are cooking/baking and hiking. He also belongs to several discussion and prayer groups, and the other members give him their own ideas along with feedback on my own. He also enjoys writing poetry. What he enjoys most, though, is taking a Gospel passage, especially a parable, and putting it into a poetic format — or sometimes explaining it in a poem.

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      Book preview

      Forgive 70 x 7 - Dr Clement T DeWall

      Forgive 70 x 7

      Our Forgotten Power

      By Dr. Clement DeWall

      Smashwords Ebook edition published by Fideli Publishing, Inc.

      © Copyright 2011, Dr. Clement DeWall

      No part of this eBook may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior written permission from Fideli Publishing.

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      ISBN: 978-1-60414-345-4

      To my wife, Eileen Mackin, who helped make this book possible

      Contents

      Introduction

      A Dream

      Sorrow

      The Gift

      Fraternal Correction

      Confession

      The Fall

      Faith

      Change of Heart

      Baptism

      Who Are We?

      Who Is God?

      Grace

      Salvation

      Resurrection

      Remembering

      In Jesus’ Name

      Power

      The Prodigal Daughter

      Introduction

      ²¹Then Peter came to him and said, If my brother or sister sins against me, how many times should I forgive? Up to seven times? ²²Jesus said to him, "I wouldn’t say seven times, but seventy times seven times.

      In Matthew 18 Jesus commands us to forgive without limit. His words could read, I wouldn’t say seven times, but seven million times. Or, seven to the seventieth power. Keep on forgiving and don’t stop.

      Jesus may have persuaded Peter. Has he also convinced us? Are we ready to forgive to the nth degree, or do we find excuses and make our forgiveness conditional?

      Excuses are easy to find. For two thousand years, Christian churches and teachers have buried Jesus’ words under layers of theological definitions and explanations. Conventional theology has twisted and masked the biblical understanding of forgiveness, sin, repentance, sorrow, salvation, resurrection and faith.

      The truth can be found; we only have to look for it.

      I expect disagreement. I expect you to reach your own conclusions. I also expect you to question your assumptions and to study further.

      Biblical quotations are my own version or translation.

      A Dream

      On February 7, 1996,1 had a dream. Vivid in every detail, it challenged my deepest religious and spiritual beliefs.

      In my dream I walked into a church, then stepped into a confessional to hear confessions. As I sat down with a stole around my neck, I saw the usual sliding panels on my right and left to open and close for each penitent. Immediately in front of me was not the door I would have opened to enter, but a large, square screen. In my dreams, anything square or with the number four represents the divine. Sunlight came streaming through the screen, outlining a woman on the other side.

      In readiness for the penitents who would come, I held in my hand printed certificates or decrees of forgiveness to hand out at the time of absolution. Then, I heard, Forgiveness does not happen by decree, but it happens as soon as there is love and understanding.

      For years I had been advising others to trust their personal experience. To take my own experience seriously would threaten my basic tenets about forgiveness.

      My experience had to be tested. It is foolhardy to accept every unusual event as a message from God. So I searched and studied the scriptures and history, to question my religious assumptions. This book is the result of that research.

      Forgiveness is our spiritual foundation. Whether we stand or fall depends upon how we forgive.

      Sorrow

      Conventional Belief: God forgives only those who are sorry.

      The conventional belief on forgiveness has been packaged in a prayer called the act of contrition:

      O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

      This formula is a theological definition of sorrow. The constant repetition of these words is supposed to instill in us the minimum sorrow for sin, which is regret motivated by fear of divine punishment. This is called imperfect sorrow or contrition, sufficient for forgiveness (according to Catholic theology) if one receives a sacrament. Better yet is sorrow because of love of God, sufficient on its own

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