Christians regularly ask God to "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," but tend to focus on the first half and ignore the second. Something is missing if Christians think of mission only in terms of proclamation or social justice and discipleship only in terms of personal growth and renewal—leaving the relational implications of the gospel almost to chance. It is vital both to spiritual life and mission to think of the church as both invitation and witness to a particularly merciful social dynamic in the world. As a work of constructive practical theology and a critical commentary on the ecclesiology of Karl Barth's unfinished Church Dogmatics, A Shared Mercy explains the place and meaning of interpersonal forgiveness and embeds it within an account of Christ's ongoing ministry of reconciliation. A theologian well-practiced in church ministry, Jon Coutts aims to understand what it means to forgive and reconcile in the context of the Christ-confessing community. In the process he appropriates an area of Barth's theology that has yet to be fully explored for its practical ramifications and that promises to be of interest to both seasoned scholars and newcomers to Barth alike. The result is a re-envisioning of the church in terms of a mercy that is crucially and definitively shared.
"It is almost unthinkable that the insights of Karl Barth have yet to be fully brought to the central topic of forgiveness. In this book, Coutts not only fills this significant gap in Barth research, but does so with the care, sensitivity, and depth of analysis that is a model for any Barth reader. Any student of Barth and any theologian interested in forgiveness will find much worth in engaging seriously with this work."
Tom Greggs, Marischal Chair of Divinity, University of Aberdeen
"What a pleasure to read a work that combines scholarly excellence with pastoral sensitivity. Jon Coutts serves both the academy and the church by offering a careful, well-reasoned, and innovative theology of forgiveness in conversation with Karl Barth and a host of contemporary thinkers. The interpretation and appropriation of Barth will be of special interest to scholars of his theology, but the constructive account of forgiveness that stands at the heart of this book will be helpful to anyone seeking to learn how the church can learn to forgive as it first has been forgiven."
Keith L. Johnson, associate professor of theology, Wheaton College
"The significance of Jon Coutts's masterful description of Barth's teaching on forgiveness and the church extends beyond the narrow confines of Barth scholarship. It deserves to be read by anyone who wants to think seriously about the logic and practice of forgiveness."
