Thinking Out LoudIan Wilkinson, Baptist pastor and the bereaved husband of Heather Wilkinson, murdered by “mushroom killer” Erin Patterson, has forgiven the convicted murderer, he revealed during victim impact statements this week.
“I encourage Erin to receive my offer of forgiveness for those harms done to me,” he told Patterson in front of a packed court, as reported by the ABC.
How on earth is it possible to forgive the person who murdered members of your family?
It’s a question that also applies to the recent appearance of Danny Abdallah and Samuel Davidson on Channel 7’s Spotlight. Danny and his wife Leila Abdallah spectacularly forgave Davidson days after the drunken driver slammed his ute into three of the Abdallah’s children, killing them and their cousin instantly.
Ian Wilkinson and the Abdallahs’ ability to forgive, even in the face of terrible suffering and injustice, witnesses to the transformational power of their Christian faith.
In this clip, theologian Miroslav Volf explains how forgiveness is another word for grace.
Grace “gives without seeking a return, and also in a situation of injury”, he says, which pushes back against our natural instincts for violence, hatred, and revenge.
The only reason grace is possible, Volf explains, is because at the heart of the Christian faith is a God of love and a God of grace. Grace and forgiveness are less a human work than a divine one.
Understandably, critics point out how unnatural it is to forgive. But forgiveness might reveal how deeply a believer like Ian Wilkinson or Danny or Leila Abdullah have grasped the scandalous nature of the God they claim to follow.