Repentance and Relational Repair

This dissertation does two things. First, it theorizes repentance, that is, the cluster of acts by which wrongdoers develop certain attitudes in light of having wronged another. Second, it analyzes the functions repentance plays with respect to relational repair, that is, the correction of damages wrought to relationships by wrongdoing. Yet while theologies of repentance typically locate the practice within divine-human relationships, this account considers how repentance helps mend interhuman relationships.

I begin by analyzing the state of the literature, both philosophical and theological. The philosophers (at least implicitly) acknowledge repentance as a real phenomenon. But their accounts are often incomplete and reduce the relationship-repairing significance of repentance to the fact that it makes apologies sincere. The theologians, on the other hand, suffer from imprecision. I count Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and Philip Melanchthon as rare exceptions. But they fail to consider a repentance that is responsive to interhuman wrongs. I therefore apply their insights toward my own constructive account while noting and justifying where I diverge from my traditional predecessors.

I also analyze the two values that comprise relational repair: corrective justice and reconciliation. I argue that repentance is required for corrective justice because it fulfills a victim-specific entitlement and restores a wrongdoer’s respect for their victim’s standing.
While it is tempting to assume repentance is necessary for wrongdoers to reconcile with their victims, I argue that repentance in fact presupposes such reconciliation. Regardless, repentance retains a pragmatic function because its occurrence indicates reconciliation.

Finally, I treat the question of how to motivate repentance. This matters because while its justness constitutes a normative reason to repent, belief in an act’s justness does not guarantee sufficient motivation to do it. I analyze love’s capacity to dispose lovers toward the doing of justice for their beloveds. More specifically, I examine neighbor love, which targets imagers of God. Since all human beings have this image, one could develop neighbor love even for strangers. The advantage of neighbor love, then, is that it disposes lovers to repent for wrongs done even against strangers (as, indeed, most social evils like racism and sexism are).