Lewis Benedictus Smedes was an acclaimed writer, publishing 15 books, including Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve and The Art of Forgiving. Born in Muskegon, Michigan, Smedes attended Calvin College and Seminary and earned his Th.D. from the Free University of Amsterdam.
Before accepting faculty positions at Calvin College and Fuller Seminary, he pastored Madison Ave. CRC in Paterson, New Jersey. He retired from Fuller as a professor of Psychology in 1995 and passed away in 2002 following a fatal head injury.