Forgiveness And Punishment Flashcards
What is forgiveness?
-The act of pardoning someone for the offences they have caused you and overlooking their faults
-Christians look to the example of Jesus who offered forgiveness to those who had offended other people or God with their actions.
What is the parable of the unmerciful servant?
•A parable is a story told by Jesus with a deeper or hidden meaning
•The merciful master forgives his servant’s debt, but the servant, in turn, refuses to forgive another man’s debt. When the master learns of this, he punishes the ungrateful servant.
What can Catholics learn from the parable of the unmerciful servant?
Jesus teaches that this is a prime example of what God’s judgement will be like. If people cannot pardon others they cannot be expected to be forgiven by God themselves
How does Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness influence a Catholic’s life?
They will try to live out the example of Jesus by showing forgiveness to those who have wronged them
What is punishment?
The consequence of a wrong decision given by a person in authority on the person who has committed the wrong doing
What do Catholics believe about punishment?
-forgiveness and punishment can work hand in hand to ensure that justice is done. Justice does not mean getting revenge or being overly harsh to a person but instead restoring what is right.
-For Christians, what is right is that a person is in a positive relationship with God and other people, and so justice refers to the way that this is brought about.
-This idea can be seen in the way parents respond to their children’s wrongdoings.
A parent may give a punishment to help their child to learn right from wrong, but will also forgive them for their wrongdoing.
