Forgiveness

Big idea

Summary

Lewis introduces forgiveness as, in his estimation, an even harder Christian demand than chastity, because the command to love one's neighbor explicitly includes loving one's enemies. He acknowledges that in the aftermath of a war, even mentioning forgiveness toward atrocities provokes real anger rather than polite agreement, and he refuses to pretend the difficulty away or claim any special ability to meet it himself. Instead of urging readers to forgive their worst historical enemies outright, he suggests starting with smaller, everyday offenses — a spouse's sharp word, a family member's failure — as a more realistic first step, much as a student begins arithmetic with simple addition rather than calculus.

To understand what loving an enemy actually requires, Lewis examines what it means that we already love ourselves. He notices that self-love is not admiration or enjoyment of one's own company — he does not always like himself and can view his own faults with real disgust — yet he never stops wanting his own good. This becomes his model for the old distinction between hating the sin and hating the sinner: we already do this instinctively toward ourselves, hating our cowardice or greed while still wishing ourselves well, and Christian love toward enemies asks nothing more mysterious than extending that same posture outward.

Lewis offers a practical test for whether hatred has quietly taken over: when a report of enemy atrocities turns out to be exaggerated, is one's first reaction relief, or a flicker of disappointment at losing an excuse to think the worst? He then addresses whether loving an enemy rules out judgment or violence, concluding it does not — Scripture distinguishes killing from murder, and lawful punishment, war, and even capital justice can be carried out by a Christian in good conscience. What must be surrendered is not justice itself but the private pleasure taken in hating and in revenge, an urge Lewis says must be resisted again and again for a lifetime rather than eliminated once.

The chapter closes by tying these threads together: to love an enemy is to hope for their eventual good and cure, not to feel affection for them or minimize what they have done. Lewis admits this means loving people who currently have nothing lovable about them, but notes this is also true of ourselves at our worst moments, and that God loves every self on exactly that same basis — not because it is attractive, but simply because it exists.

Key points

• Loving one's neighbor does not require liking or admiring them, any more than we consistently like ourselves.
• The pattern for enemy-love is our own self-love: we hate our own faults yet still will our own good.
• A workable test of whether hatred has taken over is whether we feel disappointment, not relief, when an atrocity turns out less severe than reported.
• Christian teaching permits lawful punishment and even killing in war, since Scripture distinguishes ordinary killing from murder.
• What must be renounced is not judgment or justice but the private pleasure of hatred and revenge, resisted repeatedly rather than eliminated once.
• Real forgiveness means hoping for an enemy's eventual cure and good, not pretending their wrongdoing did not happen.

Illustrations & analogies

• Lewis compares beginning the discipline of forgiveness with small daily offenses to beginning mathematics with simple addition before calculus.
• He uses his own relationship to himself — disliking his faults while still wanting his own good — as the working model for what it means to hate the sin but not the sinner.
• He proposes a test case: an atrocity story that turns out exaggerated, and whether one's first reaction is relief or secret disappointment.
• He imagines himself and a German soldier killing each other simultaneously in the First World War and meeting afterward without resentment, to illustrate that lawful killing need not involve hatred.

Notable lines

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that sin against us.

C. S. Lewis Book III, Ch. 7 — Forgiveness

hate the sin but not the sinner

C. S. Lewis Book III, Ch. 7 — Forgiveness

War is a dreadful thing, and I can respect an honest pacifist, though I think he is entirely mistaken.

C. S. Lewis Book III, Ch. 7 — Forgiveness

Related Scripture

• Matthew 22:39
• Matthew 6:12
• Exodus 20:13

For reflection and discussion

1. Lewis suggests starting the discipline of forgiveness with small, everyday offenses rather than historic wrongs — what would that first step look like in your own relationships right now?
2. How does Lewis's model of self-love — hating your own faults while still wanting your own good — change your understanding of what it means to 'love your enemy'?
3. Lewis insists that Christian forgiveness does not rule out judgment, punishment, or even lawful killing — do you find that distinction convincing, and where might it be misused?