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”的概念经常被罪犯滥用，受害者因无法宽恕而成为受害者的受害者。这种“廉价宽恕”的原因之一是明显缺乏对“道歉”的神学处理。本研究旨在通过在基督教忏悔教义中定位道歉，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，从而使集体道歉成为可能，从而填补概念上的空白。

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.