Proclaiming Healing or Protesting Harm? Reconsidering Forgiveness in Response to Sexual Trauma and Moral Injury
Andy McCoy, Hope College
The free offer of forgiveness for sin through the person and work of Jesus Christ remains an enduring proclamation of the Christian faith (and so the famous words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 5:8: “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us,” NRSV). However, renowned psychiatrist Judith Herman identifies unearned forgiveness for perpetrators of sexual abuse as a crucial problem in her recent book Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice. Herman explicitly critiques Christian beliefs about forgiveness for disempowering victims while potentially allowing perpetrators of sexual trauma to escape justice and/or confrontation with victims and further acts of contrition. “[T]o grant unearned forgiveness is not kind but callous,” argues Herman, “and can only further desensitize both the perpetrator and the victim to distinctions of morality” (Herman, 2023, p. 108).
Brett Litz’s clinical research into moral injury often discusses experiences of forgiveness (in numerous individual and co-authored papers since 2009) as an aspect of treatment for the morally injured. Yet a very recent paper co-authored by Litz and Hannah Walker proposes forgiveness as potentially problematic because 1) “victims may feel pressure based on religious or societal factors”; 2) “forgiving someone, or focusing solely on self-forgiveness, might overshadow other important aspects of restorative justice”; and 3) “Forgiving one’s perpetrator is construed by many as a sufficient step, which will fall short given the possibility of a relapse by the perpetrator…” (Litz and Walker, 2025, pp. 268-269).
This paper reconsiders concerns about forgiveness in both Herman and Litz through engagement with the “prophetic” voice of sexual abuse survivor Rachael Denhollander and her engagement of Christian faith through public confrontation with convicted abuser Larry Nassar. Denhollander is a former USA Gymnastics athlete who became the first woman (of many victims) to publicly accuse team physician and Michigan State staff member Larry Nassar of pervasive sexual abuse. I will argue that Denhollander’s public statements and later publications (including her 2019 What is a Girl Worth?) take up many of the concerns articulated by both Herman and Litz. Denhollander honestly explores theological misunderstandings of forgiveness and the problems of living out forgiveness within faith communities. She further models a Christian theological account of forgiveness which should not be construed as a boundaryless gesture from victims to perpetrators that overlooks or “forgets” concrete realities of trauma and moral injury. True repentance to God includes communal aspects of acknowledgement, apology, and accountability in relation to survivors which mirror much of Herman’s “visions of justice” and address aspects of Litz and Walker’s concerns.
Brett Litz’s clinical research into moral injury often discusses experiences of forgiveness (in numerous individual and co-authored papers since 2009) as an aspect of treatment for the morally injured. Yet a very recent paper co-authored by Litz and Hannah Walker proposes forgiveness as potentially problematic because 1) “victims may feel pressure based on religious or societal factors”; 2) “forgiving someone, or focusing solely on self-forgiveness, might overshadow other important aspects of restorative justice”; and 3) “Forgiving one’s perpetrator is construed by many as a sufficient step, which will fall short given the possibility of a relapse by the perpetrator…” (Litz and Walker, 2025, pp. 268-269).
This paper reconsiders concerns about forgiveness in both Herman and Litz through engagement with the “prophetic” voice of sexual abuse survivor Rachael Denhollander and her engagement of Christian faith through public confrontation with convicted abuser Larry Nassar. Denhollander is a former USA Gymnastics athlete who became the first woman (of many victims) to publicly accuse team physician and Michigan State staff member Larry Nassar of pervasive sexual abuse. I will argue that Denhollander’s public statements and later publications (including her 2019 What is a Girl Worth?) take up many of the concerns articulated by both Herman and Litz. Denhollander honestly explores theological misunderstandings of forgiveness and the problems of living out forgiveness within faith communities. She further models a Christian theological account of forgiveness which should not be construed as a boundaryless gesture from victims to perpetrators that overlooks or “forgets” concrete realities of trauma and moral injury. True repentance to God includes communal aspects of acknowledgement, apology, and accountability in relation to survivors which mirror much of Herman’s “visions of justice” and address aspects of Litz and Walker’s concerns.