Interesting theological debate between Mike Potemra at NRO’s Corner and Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe over whether Christians can or should forgive the unrepentant. Ignore Jacoby’s rhetorical flourish about the heinous nature of terrorism; Christians are all on common ground that no matter how bad the sin, it can be forgiven by the grace of God. Ignore Jacoby’s references to Dennis Prager, who argues persuasively that forgiveness comes only after repentance. Prager is on solid secular ethical ground, and I’m not in position to judge his references to Jewish law, but Prager is not a Christian and not speaking as one. The core question is a fascinating one; Potemra is probably right, but every instinct of our human nature fights against this conclusion. At the minimum, even if we try to forgive, we must contiune to pray that sinners see and abandon the error of their ways.