Abstract

After completing our odyssey through the reviews of forgiveness, we are poised to reflect on the current status of the field. In chapter 1, I posed eight questions which I thought (at the start of work on this book in 2002) were fundamental. Of course, that was not the first time that stock had been taken in the field. In 1998, I assayed the field (see column 1, Table 32.1). In 2000, McCullough, Pargament, and Thoresen similarly reflected on the field (see column 2, Table 32.1). Comparing those books, it was clear how much had been learned in a few short years of intensive research into forgiveness. I also summarized my 2002 questions (see column 3, Table 32.1). From Table 32.1, you can see that the questions posed in 1997 have not changed. The answers have.