Forgiveness

Definition and Meaning

Forgiveness is the act of restoring a relationship without holding the wrongdoer accountable or taking revenge. In Christianity, the term encompasses two things: God's no longer holding a person's sin against him or her, and people's pardoning of one another's wrongs. In the church, the terms "remission" (release from sin) and "absolution" are also used in the same sense. The word translates the Old Testament Hebrew salach and the New Testament Greek aphiēmi ("to send away, to let go").

Biblical and Historical Background

The Old Testament confesses God as "abundant in goodness and truth" (Exodus 34:6). It also presents a means of cleansing from sin through the Day of Atonement and the sacrifices. In the New Testament, Jesus demonstrated His authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-10), and on the cross He prayed, "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34). Christianity holds that this forgiveness is grounded in the atonement accomplished on the cross.

The Lord's Prayer and the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21-35) teach that those who have been forgiven by God must also forgive their neighbors. The Apostles' Creed confesses "the forgiveness of sins" as an article of faith.

The medieval Western church addressed forgiveness through the confession of sins to a priest and through penance (acts of satisfaction for sin). Criticism of the sale of indulgences became a catalyst for the Reformation. Protestantism emphasizes that believers can seek forgiveness directly from God through Christ, without the mediation of a priest.

Practice in Korean Churches

In most Protestant churches, believers confess their sins and repent directly before God in worship and in personal prayer (1 John 1:9). Some churches that follow a prescribed order of worship include a prayer of confession and a declaration of pardon near the beginning of the service. The Catholic Church observes confession as a sacrament. The Anglican Church has a tradition of permitting private confession for those who desire it.

Emphases also vary by denomination. The Reformed tradition, including Presbyterian churches, tends to link forgiveness with justification and to describe it as a once-for-all declaration by God. The Wesleyan tradition, including Methodist and Holiness churches, also emphasizes the life of sanctification that follows forgiveness.

The story of the Rev. Son Yang-won is frequently cited as a notable example of forgiveness. He is reported to have forgiven the young man who killed his two sons during the Yeosu–Suncheon incident of 1948 and to have adopted him as his own son.

Forgiveness as practiced in the church has also drawn criticism. Pressuring victims to forgive prematurely, and offenders' neglect of restitution on the grounds that they have "already been forgiven by God," have been identified as problems. These issues have been discussed both inside and outside the church, prompted by cases of sexual violence in the church and by the film Secret Sunshine (Miryang, 2007).