Cogent Psychology

Psychological Perspectives on Divine Forgiveness: Antecedents, Correlates, Consequences, and Synergistic Relation to Interpersonal and Self-forgiveness

“To err is human, to forgive, divine.” — Alexander Pope (An Essay on Criticism)

Most people are familiar with Pope’s observation, and have little problem accepting it, including the nonbeliever. A link is also drawn between divine and interpersonal forgiveness in many religions. Although research on human forgiveness has burgeoned in the 21 st century, systematic research on divine forgiveness is only now beginning to emerge.

It is tempting to extend the ideas and findings of research on interpersonal forgiveness to the study of divine forgiveness. Some parallels may exist, but it is important to recognize that divine forgiveness and earthly forgiveness are not mirror images of each other. Human forgiveness and divine forgiveness are not the same.

Systematic research on the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of divine forgiveness has recently begun and is yielding novel, intriguing findings. For example, experiencing divine forgiveness after a moral transgression leads to immediate increases in self-kindness, spiritual connectedness, and overall well-being in the hours that follow. Also, the documented relation between depression and self-forgiveness is moderated by divine forgiveness in that divine forgiveness buffers this relation at low, but not at high, levels of self-forgiveness. In a similar vein, the relation between interpersonal and self-forgiveness increases with increasing levels of reported divine forgiveness. Finally, all three types of forgiveness account for unique variance in depression.

As these examples illustrate, the psychology of forgiveness is incomplete and yields potentially misleading findings absent the study of divine forgiveness. This Article Collection is designed to facilitate understanding of divine forgiveness at both conceptual and empirical levels. Given that different types of forgiveness have largely been examined in isolation from each other, scholarship on the interplay of different types of forgiveness is particularly welcome.

Notwithstanding a recent decline in people participating in organized religion, most of the world’s population still profess religious beliefs. Divine forgiveness or forgiveness from a Supreme Being/Higher Power (e.g., God, Creator, Allah, Dream Maker) is a foundational concept in many religions and is a source of great comfort for people of faith in everyday life. For many people, such religious beliefs are a core-motivating feature of their lives. Consequently, the emphasis on divine forgiveness in the world’s longstanding religions cannot be ignored if we are to attain a more complete understanding of human behavior. Yet, “modern discussions of forgiveness have given little attention to divine forgiveness” (Couenhoven, 2010, p. 166). The current Collection is designed to change this circumstance and help to build on a currently emerging, conceptually sound body of research on divine forgiveness.

The above goal is facilitated by the existence of two important frameworks that now exist to guide research on divine forgiveness. The Seeking and Experiencing Divine Forgiveness Model outlines a psychological model of the processes involved in the human quest for divine forgiveness and has already been used to guide data collection in several studies. Research on how the perception of divine forgiveness impacts mental health, spiritual well-being, and daily psychological states has led to the identification of a virtuous cycle. This new framework demonstrates how divine forgiveness operates as an active, lived mechanism that transforms distress into psychological well-being.

This Collection focuses on understanding how the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of the perception and experience of divine forgiveness (forgiveness by a Supreme Being or Higher Power) manifest in the individual’s cognition, affect, and/or behavior. Contributions may be conceptual or empirical. They might address questions such as:

• How are the various psychological constructs related to divine forgiveness best conceptualized and measured for research purposes?
• When and how do people determine that they have been forgiven by God? What processes lead people to believe that they have been forgiven by God? When does confession and repentance—whether privately, relationally, or corporately—lead to an experience of being forgiven by God?
• How do the processes involved in perceiving oneself to have been forgiven by God differ from those involved in perceiving oneself to have been forgiven by someone else?
• When and why do people seek divine forgiveness (e.g., circumstances, family processes, group dynamics, cultural factors, individual differences)? What hinders people from seeking such forgiveness?
• How does the desire for, and understanding of, divine forgiveness develop, and in what ways does it change over the lifespan?
• Is there anything analogous to divine forgiveness in the lives of those who do not believe in God(s)?
• How do people go about seeking divine forgiveness? Do differences in how divine forgiveness is sought make a difference to how divine forgiveness is experienced? What are the implications of such differences for subsequent behavior?
• How are perceptions of having been forgiven by God related to cognitive, motivational, emotional, and behavioral processes? What are the proximal consequences of experiencing divine forgiveness? For example, does reappraisal of self and/or reappraisal of one’s relationship to the divine occur and, if so, what form does it take? In a similar vein, what affective and cognitive changes take place in the wake of experiencing divine forgiveness?
• How does seeking and experiencing divine forgiveness interact synergistically with interpersonal forgiveness and self-forgiveness? For example, under what conditions might perceiving oneself to have been forgiven by God facilitate self-forgiveness?
• How do cultural factors influence beliefs, experiences, and psychological processes related to divine forgiveness? Do perceptions and experiences of being forgiven by God or other supernatural agents differ across cultures, and, if so, why?

Please contact Dr. MK Huffman at mary.huffman@taylorandfrancis.com with any queries about discount codes regarding this Article Collection. Please also be sure to select the appropriate Article Collection from the drop-down menu in the submission system, and select the section "Social Psychology."

Frank D. Fincham is Eminent Scholar and Director of the Family Institute at Florida State University. A Fellow of six different professional societies, Fincham was ranked in the top 0.05% of all scholars worldwide by Scholar GPS and has received several professional honors, including the President’s Award for "Distinguished contributions to psychological knowledge" (British Psychological Society) and the Distinguished Career Award for "eminent, notable contributions to research and theory in relationship science" (International Assoc. for Relationship Research).

Dr. Fincham declares no conflicts of interest regarding this work.