Penance in the Patristic, Medieval, and Reformation Church
Penance is a concept foreign to modern western values and a term rarely used, both in society and in the church. The Reformers of the sixteenth century famously rejected the practice and theology of the sacrament of penance as it had developed over the previous millennium, including its very identification as a sacrament. Language of contrition, confession, and repentance remained part of their vocabulary, however, and many Reformed churches today include a communal and/or private "confession of sins" in their order of worship. Reformed Christians today bristle at the idea of Roman Catholic penance, but few understand its historical development, both in doctrine and in practice, and few contemplate its varied role within church practice and society as a whole. These thorough but accessible lectures examine various facets of the development of penance beginning in the early church, moving through the medieval period, and ending with the Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation.
Penance is a concept foreign to modern western values and a term rarely used, both in society and in the church. The Reformers of the sixteenth century famously rejected the practice and theology of the sacrament of penance as it had developed over the previous millennium, including its very identification as a sacrament. Language of contrition, confession, and repentance remained part of their vocabulary, however, and many Reformed churches today include a communal and/or private "confession of sins" in their order of worship. Reformed Christians today bristle at the idea of Roman Catholic penance, but few understand its historical development, both in doctrine and in practice, and few contemplate its varied role within church practice and society as a whole. These thorough but accessible lectures examine various facets of the development of penance beginning in the early church, moving through the medieval period, and ending with the Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation.
Penance is a concept foreign to modern western values and a term rarely used, both in society and in the church. The Reformers of the sixteenth century famously rejected the practice and theology of the sacrament of penance as it had developed over the previous millennium, including its very identification as a sacrament. Language of contrition, confession, and repentance remained part of their vocabulary, however, and many Reformed churches today include a communal and/or private "confession of sins" in their order of worship. Reformed Christians today bristle at the idea of Roman Catholic penance, but few understand its historical development, both in doctrine and in practice, and few contemplate its varied role within church practice and society as a whole. These thorough but accessible lectures examine various facets of the development of penance beginning in the early church, moving through the medieval period, and ending with the Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation.