Forgiveness in the Early Church

[PeteZaHut]

I am taking a religion class in college and have been doing some assigned reading about the early church. I have read that after persecution in the third century, there was a debate about what to do with Christians who had made sacrifice to Roman gods. The decision of Cyprian and other bishops was that those who had made sacrifices and then repented would only be readmitted into the church upon death.

I was wondering if the church sees that as a correct decision today. It is my understanding that there is no sin that cannot be forgiven on Earth as long as you have a firm purpose of amendment.

 

[reggieM]

I am taking a religion class in college and have been doing some assigned reading about the early church. I have read that after persecution in the third century, there was a debate about what to do with Christians who had made sacrifice to Roman gods. The decision of Cyprian and other bishops was that those who had made sacrifices and then repented would only be readmitted into the church upon death.

I was wondering if the church sees that as a correct decision today. It is my understanding that there is no sin that cannot be forgiven on Earth as long as you have a firm purpose of amendment.

The church has made the requirements for reconcilliation more lenient through the years. In the earliest days, penances were quite severe, but one has to remember that when your brothers and sisters in your own congregation were being killed in the dozens by the government, the loyalty and committment needed for believers which much higher and more intense.

Later, after the Church was able to grow in a peaceful society and also after winning over a huge number of people in various cultures, there was a need to relax the laws on lapsing from the Faith.

There is no sin which is unforgivable in confession – as long as the penitent is sorry for the sin and desires to amend, then the sin is absolved. There are rare cases when the penitent has to be reconciled by the bishop.