Thread by @NeilShenvi

Quick thread on the idea of 'corporate repentance':

My thesis is that biblical repentance is a change of mind leading to a change in behavior. Therefore, we can only repent of sins we have personally committed. 1/12

The idea that we can or should repent for sins which we did not personally commit is opposed to texts such as Deuteronomy 24:16, 2 Kings 12:20-21, Jeremiah 31:27-34, and Ezekiel 18:14-20, among others. 2/12

Some have argued that we see collective repentance in passages such Ezra 9, Neh. 1, and Dan. 9. I respectfully disagree. All of these texts are speaking about current sins that were ongoing and were still being personally committed, not sins of the past that have ceased. 3/12

The language in these passages is very explicit: “From the days of our ancestors until now” (Ezra 9:6), “I and my father's house have sinned" (Neh. 1:6) “because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers” (Dan. 9:16). 4/12

Moreover, even if it could be argued that Israel repented collectively of ancestral sins which were no longer committed, Israel was a covenant people. Modern Americans are not a covenant people, any more than whites, or Hispanics, or red-heads are a covenant people. 5/12

Thus, the proper analogy to the Israel would not be 'Americans' or 'whites' or 'Hispanics' or 'red-heads' but the Church as a whole, under the federal headship of Jesus. 6/12

If we insist that demographic groups need to repent of historic sins that they did not personally commit, we need to be consistent. Should modern Japanese-Americans repent for Japanese imperialism? Should modern Hispanics repent for the actions of Spanish conquistadors? 7/12

Indeed, every demographic group has been guilty of heinous sins. Should we then demand all people to repent of these specific sins, which they didn't commit? Presumably not. We can repent for sins of omission that we have committed, but not for others' sins. 8/12

Finally, if a person 'repents' for sins they did not commit, what behavior can they change? And what if others insist that a lack of change shows a failure to repent? Should they repent again? At what point will the sin be actually forgiven? This is a dangerous path. 9/12

The idea that we can biblically repent only for sins we have personally committed is the position of numerous historic commentators and has been affirmed recently by theologians like @albertmohler 10/12

For all these reasons, I urge Christians to 'lament' for historical sins committed by our ancestors, and to 'repudiate' them, but to reserve the word 'repentance' for sins we have personally committed, in keeping with Scripture. 11/12

We can and should 'repudiate' historic sins, 'lament' over them, 'grieve' over them, and resolve to undue the harms they have done. But calling for us to 'repent' for them obscures an important biblical concept. 12/12