{"id":274691,"date":"2018-01-28T08:33:32","date_gmt":"2018-01-28T13:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aleteia.org\/?post_type=post&p=274691"},"modified":"2018-01-28T08:33:32","modified_gmt":"2018-01-28T13:33:32","slug":"pure-grace-the-stunning-witness-of-rachel-denhollander-who-forgave-larry-nassar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2018\/01\/pure-grace-the-stunning-witness-of-rachel-denhollander-who-forgave-larry-nassar\/","title":{"rendered":"Pure grace: The stunning witness of Rachel Denhollander, who forgave Larry Nassar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This is remarkable, via The Washington Post:\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Former gymnast Rachael Denhollander used her statement Wednesday against sex abuser Larry Nassar as a testimony and message of grace and forgiveness.<\/p>\n

She was the final victim to make a statement in the sentencing hearing in Ingham County Circuit Court in Michigan. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina\u00a0sentenced Nassar<\/a>, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor, to up to 175 years in a Michigan prison for his abuse of young female gymnasts.<\/p>\n

Denhollander used part of her 36-minute statement to refer to the Bible and a quote from renowned Christian author C.S. Lewis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our early hearings, you brought your Bible into the courtroom and you have spoken of praying for forgiveness. And so it is on that basis that I appeal to you. If you have read the Bible you carry, you know the definition of sacrificial love portrayed is of God himself loving so sacrificially that he gave up everything to pay a penalty for the sin he did not commit. By his grace, I, too, choose to love this way,\u201d Denhollander said, according to a\u00a0full transcript<\/a>\u00a0of her statement.<\/p>\n

She was the first, in 2016, to accuse Nassar of sexual abuse, back in 2000\u00a0when she was 15<\/a>\u00a0and he was the sports physician at Michigan State University. On the stand, she spoke to Nassar of the biblical description of the final judgment \u201cwhere all of God\u2019s wrath and eternal terror is poured out on men like you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cShould you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you. I pray you experience the soul-crushing weight of guilt so you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me \u2014 though I extend that to you as well.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read it all.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>And watch the full video of her statement above.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is remarkable, via The Washington Post:\u00a0 Former gymnast Rachael Denhollander used her statement Wednesday against sex abuser Larry Nassar as a testimony and message of grace and forgiveness. She was the final victim to make a statement in the sentencing hearing in Ingham County Circuit Court in Michigan. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina\u00a0sentenced Nassar, the former […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":274692,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11252],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-open-mind"],"yoast_head":"\nPure grace: The stunning witness of Rachel Denhollander, who forgave Larry Nassar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is remarkable, via The Washington Post:\u00a0 Former gymnast Rachael Denhollander used her statement Wednesday against sex abuser Larry Nassar as a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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