A man who calls himself a “militant atheist” will spend the next eight years in prison for his attack on a pastor last October.

James Maxie, 28, approached Pastor Norman Hayes of Bridge Community Church in North Hampton, Ohio after services after the pastor asked Maxie’s girlfriend if she was being abused.  Maxie then beat the pastor, leaving large cuts on his face.

Maxie jumped on top of the pastor and kept beating him after the pastor had fallen to the floor.  Witnesses say that they feared Maxie was going to kill him.

The police chief who responded to the incident said he had never seen “an incident this brutal.”

Maxie was sentenced under a plea deal that had him pleading guilty to second-degree felony assault.

Pastor Hayes says that he holds no ill will toward Maxie.

“I would want him to know going into prison hearing from me that I’ve extended forgiveness for him,” Hayes said.  “[Forgiveness] is a gift.  It’s something that you can’t earn.”