Counterfeit Forgiveness

In Counterfeit Forgiveness: How a Modern Myth Betrays Victims, Protects Abusers, and Corrupts the Gospel, Teasi Cannon challenges a definition of forgiveness most Christians never question. Drawing on Scripture, church history, and her own experience as an abuse survivor, she argues that "therapeutic forgiveness"—the popular idea that forgiveness is an internal, self-directed act for emotional healing requiring nothing from the offender—is a secular counterfeit foreign to Jesus and the early church. Biblical forgiveness, she shows, is a relational exchange grounded in repentance, truth, and reconciliation. Written with compassion and clarity, this book exposes the counterfeit's damage and recovers forgiveness as God designed it.

Foreword by Hillary Morgan Ferrer, founder of Mama Bear Apologetics.

"Counterfeit Forgiveness is a much-needed correction to a modern distortion of biblical truth. Many of us grew up with the therapeutic model of forgiveness, which does not bring true healing, restoration, or freedom. Teasi Cannon exposes the counterfeit with clear, accessible language and biblical clarity, then restores the life-giving meaning of forgiveness found in Scripture. This message has been personally impactful for me, and I pray it will be for you too!"—Alisa Childers, author of Another Gospel? and host of The Alisa Childers Podcast.

Teasi Cannon is an author, speaker, and host of the True Comfort Podcast. She holds an M.A. in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty Theological Seminary, and a certificate in Christian Apologetics from Southern Evangelical Seminary. She is mentor and board member with the non-profit ministry BeEmboldened.