ABSTRACT
Praying for forgiveness is something that each individual must do whether together with or apart from others. It makes sense to talk of a two-way relationship with this God. In prayer for forgiveness this God may well be involved and can respond to that prayer. With these basic categories established, we can now move on to look at the different interpretations of what it means to pray for forgiveness. Sutherland quotes the example of the man who, in Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, confesses to a priest the murder he committed fifteen years previously. Because of the confession, the man is able to come to terms with what he has done and to find the strength to continue his life, freed from the chains of his past sin. In some churches priests are not particularly important theologically at least in terms of any hierarchical status. The Catholic Church, in particular, stresses the importance of community.
