Revelation - 3k

REVELATION – chapter 2-3 (CONT)

7 CHURCH AGES

7 PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Ephesus

Smyrna

Pergamum

Thyatira

Sardis

Philadelphia

Laodicea

30 – 100

100 – 300

300 – 600

600 – 1500

1500 – 1700

1700 – 1900

1900 –

Apostolic Church

Persecuted Church

State Church

Papal Church

Reformation Church

Missionary Church

Apostate Church

Sower

Wheat and Tares

Mustard Seed

Leaven

Hidden Treasure

Pearl of Great Price

Dragnet

Matt 13:33 (Amplified Bible) He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and worked into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

“A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough” (Gal 5:9, NASB). It spreads dramatically causing a whole loaf of bread to rise.

Some try to interpret the leaven spreading through the dough as symbolizing the spreading of the gospel in the whole world (similar to the mustard seed in the previous parable).

However leaven always has a negative connotation in the Bible.

Jesus told his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

We looked at the leaven of the Sadducees which permeated the Church in this period. This was the desire for political and temporal power rather than focusing on spiritual leadership.

Now we’ll look at the leaven of the Pharisees, who substituted the letter of the law for the spirit of the law. Likewise this period also saw the substitution of relationship with Christ for a legalistic works-based religion, ritualism and tradition.

Paul recalls how, as a Pharisee, before his conversion he “was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (Gal 1:14).

Jesus reprimanded the Pharisees for the importance they placed on tradition.

Mark 7:5-7 (NIV) So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ ”

In this Church period, tradition was regarded to have the same weight as Scripture. The Pharisees had done the same prompting Jesus to say, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” (Mark 7:8 )

Jesus accused them of replacing Scriptural practice with their traditions:

Mark 7:9 (NIV) And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!”

Mark 7:13 (NIV) “Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down …”

In contrast, Jesus appealed to Scripture, not to tradition, when he clashed with the Pharisees over the question of the Sabbatical requirements of the OT.

When challenged as to why his disciples picked and ate grain on the Sabbath, he pointed out how David, when hungry, had eaten the consecrated bread, which was normally reserved for the priests. (Matt 12:2-5)

In the period AD 600-1500, tradition (including sayings of popes and councils) eventually came to be granted equal authority to Scripture. This led to many extra-Biblical practices creeping into the church.

The Council of Trent, convened in 1545 in response to the Protestant Reformation, made this overemphasis on tradition “official” as part of it’s counter-reformation strategy.

As many observances were in the Church that could not be defended by Scripture, it was necessary to put tradition on an equal par with the Bible, in order to try and justify and legitimize these practices.

Latin was the language of the Romans and was understood throughout the Roman Empire. Thus, when Jerome translated the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures into Latin (the Vulgate), this benefited most 5th century Christians.

But Latin became a dead language around 600-750 AD. The Roman Empire was diminishing and the Romance languages (derived from Latin) like Italian, French and Spanish were rapidly evolving. So most Christians could neither read nor understand the Latin Bible and needed a translation in their native tongue.

Furthermore the printing press was only invented in 1440 and the few copies of Scripture were hand-written.

Some people in this period who were able to read Bible translations became troublesome as it was difficult to counter their Scripturally based arguments when they questioned church doctrine or practice.

Often there were bans issued on possessing or reading translations of the Bible into other languages. This ensured that people could not read the Bible and get “led astray.” *

* Pope Gregory VII [r. 1073-85] ordered Bohemians not to read the Old Church Slavonic translation of the Bible, “or it might be falsely understood by those of mediocre learning, and lead to error.” In France and Spain, after the end of the Albigensian Crusade, the provincial Council of Toulouse (1229) pronounced a general Scripture book ban for lay people of this province, only Psalterium and Brevier in Latin were allowed. The Second Council of Tarragona (1234) ruled against the Waldenses in Aragon that: “No one may possess the books of the Old and New Testaments in the Romance language, and if anyone possesses them he must turn them over to the local bishop within eight days after the promulgation of this decree, so that they may be burned.” Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor issued an edict against German interpretations of Scripture at the request of Pope Urban V 1369 in Lucca, This was in order that such interpreters would not seduce laymen and malevolent spirits to heresy or error. In England, in response to John Wycliffe and the Lollards, the provincial 3rd Council of Oxford (ended 1408), resulted in Archbishop Arundel's Constitution which declared “that no one in the future by his own authority will translate any text of Holy Scripture into the English tongue or any other, into any other by way of book or treatise.”

Contrast this with the apostles who wrote the New Testament in Greek, even though it was a second language for them. This was because Greek was then the predominant language in the known world.

They didn’t consider it necessary to write to people in foreign languages and make them dependent on someone else’s interpretation of scripture.

From 1525 William Tyndale’s English Bible had to be printed outside England in Germany. For his efforts, Tyndale was strangled and then burnt at the stake.

Some were persecuted, imprisoned or even executed for reading the Scripture and then questioning the church’s teaching.

But the Bereans were commended for this practice!

Acts 17:11 (NIV) Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Jesus rebuked the Sadducees for their ignorance of Scripture, telling them that, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” (Matt 22:29)

Paul instructed Timothy on the power of Scripture:

2 Tim 3:15-16 (NIV) … from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

MODE OF BAPTISM

In the NT Greek, there are different words for immersion, pouring and sprinkling. “Baptizo” is never translated as sprinkle or pour, but as baptize, dip or wash. Our English word “baptize” is derived from the Greek word “baptizo” and means “immersion”.

Greek

rhantizo, rhantismos

ek-cheo, epi-cheo, kata-cheo

baptizo

English

sprinkle

Pour

immerse

Tertullian (c. 200 AD), 1 Ambrose (4th cent.), 2 Cyril of Jerusalem (AD 350), 3 Theodore of Antioch (c.350–428), 4 and the “Constitutions of the Holy Apostles,” (375-380 AD) 5 all refer to baptism being by immersion.

1 “… the act of baptism itself belongs to the flesh, because we are immersed in water.” (On Baptism, Ch. 7) 2 He says of the baptismal death in Romans 6:3 that, “The death, therefore, is a figurative, not a real bodily death, for when you are immersing you present a likeness of death and burial.” 3 “You were led by the hand to the holy pool of divine baptism, as Christ was carried from the cross to this sepulcher … And you confessed that saving confession, and descended three times into the water, and again ascended, and in this there was suggested by a symbol the three days of Christ’s burial” (Catechetical Lectures 20:4). 4 Believing this we come to him for baptism, because we wish now to share in his death so as to share like him in the resurrection from the dead. So when I am baptized and put my head under the water, I wish to receive the death and burial of Christ our Lord, and I solemnly profess my faith in his resurrection; when I come up from the water, this is a sign that I believe I am already risen... (Baptismal Homilies, 3.5, 9, 18, 19, 20 [Catechetical Homilies, 14]) 5 This baptism, therefore, is given into the death of Jesus: the water is instead of the burial... the descent into the water the dying together with Christ; the ascent out of the water the rising again with Him. (Book 3, Section 16/17)

Gregory of Nyssa (AD 383), 2 Chrysostom (4th cent.), 3 Jerome (5th cent.), 4 and Leo the Great (5th cent.), 5 all refer to baptism as being by immersion.

The first recorded departures from the practice of immersion in baptism were in special cases only i.e. due to deathbed or sickbed baptisms, or scarcity of water. E.g. the Didache (late 1st – 2nd cent.) permits pouring water upon the head as a substitute for immersion, but only in the event of water scarcity. 1

1 “Now as regards baptism, thus baptize: having first rehearsed all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in running water. But if you have not running water, baptize in other water; and if you cannot in cold, then warm. But if you have neither, pour water upon the head three times …” (ANF, 7.379). 2 “And we, in receiving baptism . . . conceal ourselves in [the water] as the Saviour did in the earth…” (Sermon For the Day of Lights). 3 On John 3:5: “When we dip our heads under the water as in a kind of tomb, our old man is buried, and being submerged, is hidden below, and thence he rises again renewed.” 4 “The Saviour Himself does not preach the kingdom of heaven until by His baptismal immersion He has cleansed the Jordan.” (Letter 69, 6) 5 “… for in the baptismal office death ensues through the slaying of sin, and threefold immersion imitates the lying in the tomb three days, and the raising out of the water is like him that rose again from the tomb.” (Letter 16, IV)

Sprinkling and pouring (affusion) was still not the normal practice in the 3rd century. Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258) advised using these modes only “when necessity compels,” e.g. in cases of “sickness and weakness.” 1

1 “You have asked also, dearest son, what I thought of those who obtain God’s grace in sickness and weakness, whether they are to be accounted legitimate Christians, for that they are not to be washed, but sprinkled, with saving water. … In the sacrament of salvation, when necessity compels, and God bestows his mercy, the divine methods confer whole benefits on believers; nor ought it to trouble anyone that sick people seemed to be sprinkled or affused, when they obtain the Lord’s grace” (Epistle Ixxv.12; ANF, 5.400-401).

The first recorded case of baptism by affusion (pouring) involved Novatian (200-258) in Rome. Eusebius says that Novatian “being supposed at the point of death, was baptized by affusion, in the bed on which he lay.” 1

This was considered abnormal, for Eusebius subsequently observes that restrictions were put upon Novatian because: “It was not lawful that one baptized in his sick bed by affusion, as he was, should be promoted to any order of the clergy…” 1

1 Ecclesiastical History, 1955, 266

In the late 6th century, the writings of Gregory, bishop of Rome indicate that, although infant baptism was also being practiced, it was still by immersion and not sprinkling. 1 Even as late as 753 AD, Pope Stephen II said that pouring and sprinkling were not allowed except in cases of necessity. 2

In the 11th century, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc, still refers to baptism by immersion, 3 as does Bernard Of Clairvaux, the most prominent ecclesiastic in France in the 12th century. 4

The Council of Nemours in 1284 limited “sprinkling to cases of necessity.” 5

1 He writes in 591, “Now we, in immersing thrice, signify the sacraments of the three days’ sepulture; so that, when the infant is a third time lifted out of the water, the resurrection after a space of three days may be expressed… neither so is there any objection to immersing the person to be baptized in the water once…” (Book I, Epistle XLIII) 2 Edinburgh Cyclopedia; quoted by Rowe, 1957, 456 3 Commenting on Philippians 3:10, he says, “Being made conformable unto his death in baptism, for as Christ lay for three days in the sepulchre, so let there be a trine immersion in baptism.” 4 In his sermon on the Lord’s Supper, he says, “Baptism is the first of all the sacraments, in which we are planted together in the likeness of his (Christ’s) death. Hence trine immersion represents the three days we are about to celebrate.” 5 Schaff, 1894, I.201

In the 13th century, the renowned Catholic theologian, Thomas Aquinas noted that baptism by immersion was more common than sprinkling. He contends that sprinkling is acceptable but that immersion is preferable.

“Christ's burial is more clearly represented by immersion: wherefore this manner of baptizing is more frequently in use and more commendable. Yet in the other ways of baptizing it is represented after a fashion, albeit not so clearly…” 1

At the Council of Ravenna in 1311, pouring and immersion were declared to be equally valid. 2

1 Summa Theologiae, Third Part, Question 66. The sacrament of Baptism, Article 7 2 “Baptism is to be administered by trine aspersion or immersion [sub trina aspersione, vel immersione].

After the legalization of the church by Constantine in the 4th century, large churches began to be built which had baptismal fonts in separate adjacent enclosures.

Wolfred Nelson Cote catalogued 65 baptistries located in Italy alone, built between the 4th and 14th centuries, concluding that every one was constructed for baptism by immersion. 1

1 “The Archæology of Baptism” (London: Yates and Alexander, 1876),

Today the Roman Catholic Church (amongst others, including Reformed churches) baptizes by sprinkling, but admits the change from immersion to pouring was simply for convenience: “The present mode of pouring arose from the many inconveniences connected with immersion, frequent mention of which are made in the writings of the early Church Fathers.” 1

According to the ‘Catholic Answers’, website “Although Latin-rite Catholics are usually baptized by infusion (pouring), they know that immersion (dunking) and sprinkling are also valid ways to baptize. Fundamentalists, however, regard only baptism by immersion as true baptism …”

The Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic church never changed and immerses to this day.

1 Question Box, Bertrand L. Conway

Holy Water is water that has been blessed and set apart for baptism. As a reminder of baptism, Catholics dip their fingers in the holy water and make the sign of the cross when entering the church. 1

The liturgy may begin on Sundays with the Rite of Blessing and Sprinkling Holy Water, in which holy water is sprinkled upon the congregation. This ceremony dates back to the 9th century. 1

1 https:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Holy_water

This distinction possibly originated from 1 John 5:16–17.

(NIV) If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

Over time, sins were categorized as venial (less serious) or mortal (serious) sins. Venial sins involved lesser matters, partial knowledge, impulsive behaviour, or actions done inadvertently. Examples of mortal sins are murder and fornication.

Anyone dying in a state of mortal sin would suffer eternal separation from God in hell. Venial sins are lesser offenses that injure but do not destroy one's relationship with God.

Pacian of Barcelona (385) and Jerome (393) were among the early figures who defined mortal and venial sins.

If the classification of sins into mortal and venial sins is not what is referred to in 1 John 5:16–17, then what is the sin that leads to death?

Physical death:

Ananias and Sapphira died physically because they lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3).

Paul says that some who were abusing the Lord’s Supper had become sick and had even died (1 Cor 11:30).

Spiritual death:

Apostasy: It may refer to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (i.e. attributing the works of God to Satan), which Jesus said could not be forgiven (Matt 12:22-32). This might refer to apostasy, where a person falls away to the extent that they no longer desire to repent. (“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened … and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance…” - Heb 6:4-5, NIV )

Unrepented sin: John speaks of “sin that leads unto death” rather than “the sin…”. So its unlikely that a particular sin is in mind.

We are called to pray for the salvation of the lost (those who are not “your brother”), and to pray for our brothers and sisters of faith, that they would confess and repent of their sin and continue in faithfulness to the Lord. 1

But we must not offer assurance where conviction is necessary. For those who believe themselves to be Christians but are not, we must resist the temptation to tell them their sin has been forgiven despite their lack of repentance. Instead, we pray for “brothers” and we call the unrepentant to faith. 1

To pray for someone who has committed sin leading unto death is to confirm them in their sinful rebellion against God rather than calling them to repentance and faithful submission to God’s commands. 1

1 https:// livingtheologically.com/ 2016/ 09/ 19/ what-is-sin-that-leads-to-death-in-1-john-516-17

Up to the 4th century, church leaders like John Chrysostom (Archbishop of Constantinople) taught private confession to God, with no mention of the need to confess to a priest. 1 & 2 So did Basil (330-378), bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. 3

1 “We do not request you to go to confess your sins to any of your fellowmen, but only to God… You need no witnesses of your confession. Secretly acknowledge your sins, and let God alone hear you.” (Paenitentia, Vol. IV) 2 “What we should most admire is not that God forgives our sins, but that he does not disclose them to anyone, nor wishes us to do so. What he demands of us is to confess our transgressions to him alone to obtain pardon.” (Catethesis ad illuminandos, Vol.II) 3 “I have not come before the world to make a confession with my lips. But I close my eyes, and confess my sins in the secret of my heart. Before thee, O God, I pour out my sighs, and thou alone art the witness. My groans are within my soul. There is no need of many words to confess: sorrow and regret are the best confession. Yes, the lamentations of the soul, which thou art pleased to hear, are the best confession.” (Commentary on Psalms 37)

When did the sacrament of Penance (aka confession or reconciliation) originate?

In the 5th century) it was quite common for more serious offenders to confess their sins publicly, in front of the congregation, or, for the ministers occasionally to proclaim before the whole assembly the nature of the confessions which they had received.

Bishop of Rome, Leo the Great discouraged these practices, and encouraged that confession should rather be private, and confided to the priest alone.

But it was only at the fourth council of Lateran in 1215 that it was decreed that all persons should confess privately, and be absolved once a year, under pain of excommunication. 1

1 https:// biblicalcyclopedia.com/ A/ auricular-confession.html

ANNUAL CONFESSION

While venial sins required only prayer, a sincere Act of Contrition, or reception of Holy Communion to remits those sins, all mortal sins had to be confessed to a priest. It was believed that priests had been given the authority by Jesus to extend the forgiveness of sins (absolution) here on earth.

They claimed Scriptural support for this at the Council of Trent (1545-63) from Jesus’ words to the disciples in John 20:23.

(NIV) “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Some Protestants interpret this statement to be the pronouncement of forgiveness of sin – that is part of the gospel message.

Yet the above is attributed to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, in response to Jesus telling a man that his sins were forgiven. (v. 20) Jesus responded by pointing out that “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” (v.24)

Luke 5:21 (NIV) “… Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

But how can a priest, or any human being, forgive sins which are not against him directly. Surely only God can do that?

Matt 6:14 (NIV) For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Can a man forgive another mans sins? The only sins a man can forgive are those against him directly. Jesus said we should forgive those who sin against us.

So isn’t Jesus (in John 20:23) giving this same authority (to forgive sins) to the apostles? Forgiveness of sin is linked elsewhere to the prayers offered by elders.

James 5:14-15 (NIV) Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

While God alone can forgive all sin, do church-leaders have God-given authority to be his earthly instruments in that regard?

They do, but not for all sin – as is practiced in the Sacrament of Penance. Jesus is giving church leaders authority to forgive sins against the church.

2 Cor 2:5-7 (NIV) If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow..

Some who defend this practice of granting absolution, argue that during the Sacrament of Penance, the priest is an earthly stand-in for Jesus whose authority it is to forgive sins.

During the Middle Ages, the priest absolved the penitent sinner using the formula “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

In place of this Western formula, the Eastern Orthodox churches are more deprecatory, generally employing a formula such as “May God, through me, a sinner, forgive thee…”

Confessing sin is mandated in Scripture (1 John 1:9).

But the Bible teaches 3 types of confession:

1) Private confession (to God alone)

Jesus taught us to pray directly to God for forgiveness, “Our Father in heaven… Forgive us our sins” (Luke 11:2,4).

Peter instructed Simon Magus to pray directly to God for forgiveness. “Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.” (Acts 8:22, NIV)

2) Public confession (to the church)

Acts 19:18-19 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly.

In cases where sin has resulted in the exclusion of a person from church membership due to unrepentance, public confession is often a prerequisite to readmission. The sinner confesses to the church his or her repentance and is received back into fellowship.

In 2 Corinthians 2:10 Paul writes, “If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake”.

The context here is clearly church discipline – the case of the repentant fornicator, who was initially excommunicated but is now being received back into fellowship.

The expression in John 20:23 1 probably refers to church discipline where the leaders have God’s backing in rejecting or accepting others into fellowship. In context, Jesus is giving instructions to the apostles, the first church leaders. They have authority to forgive sins publicly known to the church.

1“If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

3) Confessing one to another:

James 5:16 (NIV) Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

This is often cited as support for auricular (“to the ear”) confession to a priest. However it is not talking about one-way confession but mutual confession and prayer for one another (“confess your sins to each other and pray for each other”).

Elsewhere in Scripture, confession to another person is specifically encouraged when a wrong has been done to that person. The confession to the person wronged is part of the reconciliation process.

Luke 17:3-4 (NIV) “… If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

There is no Biblical mandate requiring us to confess to an earthly intermediary like a priest. (The OT office of priesthood was not continued in the NT).

Christ is the high priest we are to approach with regards to confession of sin:

Heb 4:15-16 (ESV) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We can confess our sin directly to our only high priest, Jesus. He then acts as our representative before God in the matter.

1 John 2:1 (NIV)… if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

We obtain complete forgiveness without respect to any good work:

Rom 3:28 (ESV) For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

In summary, the scriptural teaching regarding valid forms of confession is:

Private confession (to God) – when you have sinned in private.

Public confession (to the church) – when you have sinned publicly.

Confessing to one another – when you have sinned against that person.

Baptist pastor, Roger Ellsworth writes: “Confession should always be as wide as the sin. If we have sinned secretly, we should confess it to God. If we have sinned against someone else, we should confess it to God and to the person whom we have wronged. And if we have sinned publicly, we should confess it to God and in public.” 1

1 “Opening Up James”, Day One Publications, 2009, p. 162

In a sacramental understanding of the term, "penance" applies to the whole activity from confession to absolution.

Generally speaking, however, it is used to characterize the works of satisfaction imposed or recommended by the priest on or to the penitent. It is a punishment which varies with the character and heinousness of the offence committed.

Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: they must “make satisfaction for” or “expiate” their sins.

In the 6th century, the Penitentials were developed in Ireland. These were guides for confessors, including prayers, lists of questions to be asked, and penances to be assigned for various sins. *

After weighing the gravity of the confessed sins, the priest, acting in the place of God, absolves the sinner of the eternal punishment due (but not necessarily all the temporal punishment) for those confessed sins, and gives them a penance to perform.

This generally falls into the categories of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, service of neighbour, voluntary self-denial, sacrifices.

* NOTE: The Confessional booth was a 16th century development.

Matt 3:8 (NIV) Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

(Douay-Rheims) Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of penance.

No! These scriptures indicates that a person who has repented shows evidence of this by living a reformed life – not that they inflict some form of self-punishment, or do works to “atone” for their sin.

Acts 2:38 (ESV) And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…

(Douay-Rheims) But Peter said to them: Do penance, and be baptized…

Isn’t penance simply another term for repentance?

Proponents of the practice of Penance cite Zacchaeus’ example for support.

Luke 19:8 (NIV) But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

The OED defines penance as “PUNISHMENT INFLICTED ON ONESELF as an outward expression of repentance for wrongdoing.”

Repentance involves reviewing one’s actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to change for the better.

Zacchaeus is not trying to punish himself; he is acknowledging that his sins impacted others financially and is making restitution to those he wrong. If he just wanted to punish himself, he could have simply just given his money to the poor.

His actions were not prescribed by Jesus; of his own he voluntarily offered to make restitution.

His forgiveness was not dependent on this; he was already forgiven and his actions were fruits or evidence of his changed heart.

Another concern is when penitents are given multiple repetitive prayers to say e.g. “Our Father” or “Hail Mary”.

Besides the latter being totally unscriptural (praying to Mary as a mediatrix), both fall into the category of being “vain repetitions – which Jesus prohibited.

Matt 6:7 (NKJV) And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

Ultimately people were taught that if they died without having confessed or done penance for a mortal sin, they would be damned.

But because they were less serious, dying with unconfessed venial sin resulted in punishment in a place called purgatory (from Latin “a place of cleansing”).

Purgatory is allegedly experienced only by those souls judged by God at the moment of death to be destined for heaven, but not yet perfectly holy.

PURGATORY

AUTHOR: Gavin Paynter

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