[Disclaimer: This is a critical review of a book written by Paul J. Meyer. I have no personal relationship with Mr. Meyer, but I know that many of my readers may know him well. Please understand that I am not criticizing him as a person, but only the words written in this book. I pray that he will be able to continue his mission of "doing all the good he can, for as many people as he can, in as many ways as he can, for as long as he can" for many years to come.]
Nearly all cancer patients, besides having a lifetime habit of suppressing and repressing emotions, are known to share a marked inability to forgive.1

The above quote is from Paul J. Meyer's book,
Forgiveness ... the Ultimate Miracle.
The teaching of this book is subversive, although I am quite sure this was not the author's intent. The style proves to be a combination of Christian-ese verbiage with an "I can do all things through myself" attitude. The majority of the writing (9 of the 10 chapters) is done with a
Christian culturally-christian worldview, in which the author does not mention Jesus
at all.
2
The primary thrust of
Forgiveness is thus: following these steps will make you a great forgiver. The author also lists the personal benefits of forgiveness as the primary motivation for forgiving others. Even in his "gotcha" chapter
3, there is no mention of the real Christian motivation for forgiveness; that we should forgive others because
Christ forgave us!4
The benefits of forgiveness the author examines are not all untrue
5, but they certainly miss the bigger picture of Christian forgiveness. The author has a long list of the "fruit" of forgiveness
6, which include: Health, Money, Power, and Advancement. Are we really okay with the teaching that forgiveness brings you money? Hopefully, no one who reads this book actually expects this to happen.
A rather bothersome chapter is titled "Forgiving God". The author makes it clear that God makes no mistakes, does no wrong, and that we have no right to blame God for evil. However, in the chapter, he recommends
forgiving God if it will make you feel better. No! It is not okay to blame God and then think that
you need to forgive
Him! We are the ones who need forgiveness, not God.
One question that must be asked while reading this book is, "Who is the author's intended audience?" If the author's target audience is non-Christians, I presume the author's intention for the "gotcha" chapter would be to share the Gospel of Christ with others who might not read through an explicitly Christian book. However, if this is his target, he is missing the mark by making culturally-christian references throughout the book, before reaching the "gotcha" chapter. The whole point of the "gotcha" method is for it to come as a surprise at the end.
If the author's target audience is Christians, then I think the author missed this mark also, because he is using thoroughly secular arguments to teach Christians to act Christianly. The meat of this book
7, has no distinctive Christian teaching in it; all of it could be passed off as non-Christian advice.
Perhaps this book most frustrating because the topic provides for a great opportunity to teach about Christ's forgiveness and the Christian's extension of that forgiveness... but it doesn't.
1 Paul Meyer,
Forgiveness ... the Ultimate Miracle (Orlando: Bridge-Logos, 2006), 5. Although the quote originated from
Colin C. Tipping, the author uses it as support for one of his arguments.
2 Yes, some of the "example stories" which are included in the book mention Jesus, but the author's teachings in the first nine chapters most definitely do not.
3 The second half of Chapter 10, "Let Forgiveness Set You Free" contains a short gospel presentation. However, its placement in the book (and the small amount of words devoted to it) are suspect. I call chapters like this a "gotcha" because it is as though the author is trying to surprise readers by concluding the book with something that was not discussed throughout the book.
4 See
Colossians 3:13
5 although some are very, very wrong
6 Clearly, the author just made some of this stuff up.
7 Chapters 1 - 9