A comparative study of Christian and Jewish denominations on their attitudes towards forgiveness and religious commitment.

摘要

In this thesis, a comparative analysis of attitudes towards forgiveness of others, self, and negative situations and religious commitment was conducted exploring potential differences amongst three denominations of Christianity and three denominations of Judaism. Also of interest was the relative influence of parental upbringing or religious background on attitudes towards forgiveness, and the relationship between forgiveness and religious commitment. Three non-directional hypotheses were proposed, and the following significant differences between denominations were found: between Christian Catholics and Conservative Jews on forgiveness of others, between Christian Catholics and Christian Baptists on the relative influence of parental upbringing and religious background on forgiveness of self, between Christian Catholics and both Conservative Jews and Reform Jews on the degree of self-reported religious commitment, and between Christian Baptists and Reform Jews on the degree of self-reported religious commitment. Finally, significant correlations were found between forgiveness of others, self and negative situations and religious commitment.