Jesus Christ Bore the Cost

Forgiveness: Reclaiming Its Power in a Culture of Outrage and Fear (A Guide to Ending the Cycle of Outrage, Improving Mental Health, and Breaking Free from Cancel Culture)

Written by Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing

Published by Brazos Press

Release Date: 04.21.26

Genre: Christian Nonfiction, Apologetics Christian Theology, Christian Antiquities & Archaeology

5 Stars!

Amy Orr-Ewing writes with such clarity and force that sentence after sentence felt like light breaking across places in the heart that are easy to leave unexamined. More than once, I had to stop reading and sit with what had just been uncovered in me.

One of the most piercing moments came through these words: “On the cross, Christ took our sins upon himself. Because he did so, the basest instincts and intuitions of the human heart can be forgiven. Jesus defeated cruelty, evil, and death itself. Turning to cruelty as a source of power or meaning will leave us and others broken, empty, and diminished. True power is found in Christ, the light defiantly shining in the darkness.” I could not move quickly past that. I found myself asking the Lord whether any slowness in forgiveness, whether hidden or expressed, whether spoken aloud or nursed in silence, reveals a grasping after something I never possessed in the first place. What illusion of power have I ever imagined I held over another image-bearer? What false elevation of self survives in a heart that hesitates to release what Christ has already placed beneath His own righteous judgment?

That searching depth rests on a profoundly biblical foundation. Amy Orr-Ewing does not begin with human emotion and work outward. She begins where truth begins. “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has made each and every person to know their Creator and to discern right from wrong. The fall of humanity, described in Genesis 3, profoundly impacts every living person and is the basis of sin, death, alienation, deception, and confusion, leaving us all in desperate need of redemption.” That matters so much. Forgiveness carries its true shape only when sin, evil, justice, and redemption are all held in full view before God. That is exactly what this book does with unusual steadiness and beauty.

I also loved this: “The value of every human life remains undiminished and the love of God for this world undimmed, yet the reality and pervasive power of evil, darkness, and sin are also accounted for.” That sentence alone carries such moral clarity. Amy Orr-Ewing honors the sacred worth of every person while also refusing to soften the horror of evil. That gives this book a kind of holy balance that feels increasingly rare. The wound is seen. The darkness is named. Human dignity remains. God’s love remains. Justice remains. Redemption remains within reach because Christ remains at the center.

Again and again, this book shows the surpassing beauty of the Christian account of forgiveness. “The Christian story pulls everything into focus, connecting with our human quest for meaning, our need for redemption, and the radical possibility of forgiveness.” That line captures so much of what these pages gave me. Amy Orr-Ewing does not treat forgiveness as a moral accessory or a therapeutic strategy. She shows it as something rooted in the very heart of the Christian story, where the holiness of God, the reality of sin, the ache of human need, and the mercy of Christ all meet.

What especially strengthened me was her refusal to separate forgiveness from justice. “…the Christian story has something profound to offer: a vision of forgiveness that doesn’t minimize wrongdoing, upholds the seriousness of harm, and offers the possibility of atonement and redemption.” Yes. That is one of the deepest strengths of this book. It speaks to a wounded world with moral seriousness intact. It speaks to injured hearts without asking them to call evil small. It speaks to the conscience with the full weight of truth and then leads it to the cross where justice and mercy stand together without fracture.

That same strength is present here: “The Christian message acknowledges that wrongdoing is real and that there is real justice to be don. It challenges us to admit that we are flawed in some way ourselves and need forgiveness, it overcomes the impetus to cruelty and domination, and it points to something stronger and more beautiful.” Amy Orr-Ewing keeps pressing beyond the cramped instincts of the fallen heart into something far more radiant. She keeps returning the reader to the place where repentance, humility, justice, grace, and hope can all breathe in the same sacred space.

This next passage meant so much to me: “As I receive his free gift of grace, I am empowered to offer forgiveness to those who have harmed me. When I do this, I am confident that the debt incurred to me will be paid – whether the perpetrator owns up, repents, and receives that gift or through the righteous judgment of all things at the end of time, when every person who has ever lived will stand before God and give an account of their life. Justice is upheld and forgiveness is possible.” What freedom lives there. What release. Amy Orr-Ewing gives language to something deeply strengthening: I do not have to carry the burning burden of final reckoning. I do not have to secure justice with my own clenched heart. God has not lost sight of evil. Christ has not failed to bear the cost of redemption. The Judge of all the earth will do right. That certainty opens the trembling hand.

I was also deeply moved by this: “We are challenged to admit that although we are harmed by others, we also fall short ourselves and need forgiveness. The forgiveness we are offered through Christ gives us the opportunity to own up to our mistakes and put things right and empowers us to offer forgiveness to others who have harmed us.” There is such humility in that truth, and such mercy. This book keeps every soul low before the cross in the best possible way. It leaves no room for self-righteousness to survive untouched. It keeps bringing the reader back to our shared need for grace and to the transforming mercy of Christ that makes forgiveness conceivable, possible, and beautiful.

Then came one of the lines that stayed with me most: “We are liberated from the pressure to bring about vengeance that justice demands and delivered from the long reach of noxious bitterness over our futures.” That is such a piercing way to describe the poison bitterness tries to spread across what lies ahead. Amy Orr-Ewing writes with a clarity that exposes bitterness without glamorizing it and with a tenderness that shows the freedom Christ gives to those who entrust justice to God.

And this is simply beautiful: “Forgiveness in action is beautiful and compelling, and it helps rebuild a broken world.” It does. Forgiveness bears witness to the kingdom of God in a way cruelty never can. It carries the shape of the gospel into wounded places. It becomes a living testimony that Christ has not only spoken truth into this world’s darkness, He has made a way for hearts to be released from its dominion.

By the time I reached this final quote, I felt the whole book gather into one radiant declaration: “I believe there is something sacred, radical, and different in the Christian story that is beautiful, good, and true – forgiveness. Both receiving it and being empowered to offer it are worth our serious consideration.” That is exactly how this book felt to me. Sacred. Radical. Beautiful. Good. True.

This was wholehearted, life-changing 5-star read for me. Forgiveness is theologically rich, morally clear, spiritually searching, and deeply Christ-centered. Amy Orr-Ewing has written a book that takes evil seriously, honors justice fully, magnifies grace rightly, and lifts the reader’s eyes to the crucified and risen Christ, where forgiveness finds both its cost and its glory. I finished this book more aware of my own need for mercy, more willing to release every offense into the hands of God, and more grateful that in Christ, forgiveness is never shallow, never sentimental, and never detached from truth. It shines with the beauty of the gospel itself.

I received a paperback copy of this book from the publisher. I am not required to write a positive review nor paid to do so. This is my honest and unbiased review. My thoughts and opinions expressed in this book review are my own. My review focuses on the writing and the content, ensuring transparency and reliability.