In the past, I would post only book reviews pertinent to worship, music in the local church, or general Christian leadership and discipleship. Recently, I've been studying many more general topics as well, such as history, economics and scientific thought, some of which end up as reviews here as well.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 4:06PM 
"Forgiving means abandoning your right to pay back the perpetrator in his own coin, but it is a loss that liberates the victim."1
This lithe statement makes clear what equation is required for solving the problem of reconciliation. It was this solution that was the heart and soul of the transformation that took place in South Africa in the last 20 years. As a prominent member of the ecclesiastical and moral movements within the South African nation, Desmond Tutu became an icon of leadership for the black people who had suffered for decades under the crushing blows of apartheid. Tutu's book "No Future Without Forgiveness" is a personal memoir of his process and involvement with the, now famous, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which he chaired during its lifetime.
The commission's broad mission, mandated by the South African President Nelson Mandela, was two-fold. First, it was to engage a process which would discover the truth of the apartheid operation in South Africa, expose it, allow for confession of its terrible acts by the people responsible (under the auspices of a later process to amnesty), and look for verbal contrition related to those confessions. Secondly, it was to engage victims as well, and call for their testimony and courage to reveal the stories of their abuse and suffering. A later process of both amnesty and reparations was to follow the revelations brought out by the TRC's findings.
What is most surprising about the commission is not, however, the stories of horror brought forth by the victims, or even the admissions of guilt submitted by many of the perpetrators. What is most surprising is the consistent, real, verbal, physical, on-the-spot, heart-rending examples of forgiveness. In profound case after case, magnaminity flowed like the waters of healing through so much of the proceedings of the commission that the TRC, South Africa and Tutu himself became examples of the power of forgiveness for the entire world. Though the stated title of the commission included reconciliation, there was no true step in the process of its actions that guaranteed or even offered such a wild promise. Yet it encountered it time and again.
Tutu is quick to point out the failings, weaknesses, hurdles and sufferings of their efforts, as well as their successes and is all the bigger a human being for doing so. "No Future Without Forgiveness" is a definitive example of the gospel of Jesus becoming the good news for the 20th (and 21st) century human race. Without casting any religious encumbances on either the procedings or his book readers, Tutu guides both through a process of healing the begins with confession, leads to admission, responds with forgiveness and goes forth with reconnection and the beginnings of possible relationship.
While topic and content are ultimately the pinnacle of concerns for the human race, as a writer, Tutu runs slightly aground on a few points, but never endangers the work with irreprable harm. First, the book has several sections that repeat examples and recite cases. This would not seem odd, as the importance of the work demands repetition, but this happens so often and with such detail one believes a broader editorial presence might have scaled back some of the recitings as thinner references, with restating much detail. Second, there are several times when grammatical sense and structure were not attended to. Slight deference is given for the uniqueness of South African english which may fall askew from American english (or vise versa), but I found a few examples of clauses without whole sentences, which seemed odd. Both of these relatively minor authorship roadbumps seem like they could have been avoided by good editorial management.
That said, the book is engaging, unique and profoundly needed. So far beyond being a great book with no practical application, "No Future Without Forgiveness" is a success not because it is a literary juggernaut, but because it is an archive of amazing action that literally changed a nation. Saying more about the content is not necessary, as the story is a compelling and inviting read for anyone who wishes to take it up.
An unstoppable book with an unstoppable message.
Product Link on Amazon: No Future Without Forgiveness
Review by
Kim Gentes
[1]Desmond Tutu, "No Future Without Forgiveness", (New York, NY: Random House 1999), Pg 272
