Adultery and Grace: The Ultimate Scandal

Not for the faint of heart, the newly married or for those wearing kid gloves, this book takes a cold look at the hot reality of adultery in America. Pastor, writer and television commentator Gaddy details the adulterous impulse and its reverberating fractures in family and social relations, with a determined desire to bring grace through forgiveness and healing to those scarred by guilt and rejection in the aftermath of an adulterous affair. The A-word, claims Gaddy, is the sacred cow of sin: it outranks all others in its ability to fuel gossip and inspire draconian judgment from otherwise sympathetic employers, friends, family and pastors. It's time, says the author, to square with adultery as sin and allow the sinner to enter the slow process of reconciliation with God, family and self. Without ever diminishing the wrongful nature of adulterous acts (under which rubric he includes not just consummation but also thoughts, words and emotional attachments), Gaddy develops a pastoral response to adultery based on the compassionate ministry of Jesus: one that emphasizes forgiveness and hope rather than law and order. Those who would condemn and judge adulterers and exclude them do the worse sin, according to Gaddy, for they deny the workings of God's justice and scandalize grace. (Dec.)