We have sinned against you": Christian collective apology in the context of repentance

近年来，关于基督徒宽恕的研究激增。然而，“宽恕”的概念经常被冒犯者滥用，使受害者因为无法宽恕的“罪”而受害。这种“廉价的宽恕”的原因之一是神学上对“道歉”的明显缺乏。本研究旨在填补这一概念上的空白，将道歉定位在基督教的悔改教义中，通过考虑集体认同和道德代理问题来解释个人和集体道歉，并为教会和基督教机构建立神学基础，使集体道歉成为可能。

Recent years have seen a proliferation of studies on Christian forgiveness. Nevertheless, the notion of 'forgiveness' has often been abused by offenders in a way that victimizes the victim for their 'sin' of being unable to forgive. One of the causes of this 'cheap forgiveness' is the conspicuous absence of theological treatment of 'apology.' This research aims to fill the conceptual lacuna by locating apology within the Christian doctrine of repentance, accounting for individual and collective apologies by considering issues of collective identity and moral agency, and establishing theological foundations for churches and Christian institutions to enable collective apologies.