Hermas

[GramdpaMunster]

I was wondering what you think about the following quote from the Shepherd of Hermas:
" The Master has sworn to his elect by His glory, that if, after this day which is fixed as a limit, they still commit sins, they will find no salvation. Repentance for the just has an end. The days of repentance are finished for all the saints, but for the heathen there is repentance until the last day"

When I read early Christain writing I get the impression that the church was different from any modern church, Catholic or protestant. It looks like they thought that your sins were washed away in baptism, and after that you didn’t sin, ever. If you did you might get one chance to repent.

 

[redhen]

Hmm, I read that passage and it seems to line up with what little I know of early Church history. I thought that many people waited for a death-bed baptism because committing sin after baptism was particularly damming, and penance at that time was public and harsh. That’s my take on some notable death-bed conversions, i.e. Constantine, Charlemagne, etc.

Of course my Christian bashing, cynical professor of world religions said in our lecture it was because they were “hedging their bets”.

 

[BerhaneSelassie]

In the second and third century there were debates regarding repentance after baptism. In some diocese if you committed certain mortal sins you could not regain communion, in some places you were given one chance, Hermas seems to think this. Perhaps someone else know more about Hermas, perhaps Hermas is saying “God knows they are not really going to repent, they will live in that sin” or something to that effect.

The view that people who committed a very grave mortal sin should not be returned to communion were typically called Noviatians, after an antipope who took the view. Others that seem to take a similar view are Tertullian, who condemns the pope for saying the Church has the power to forgive adultery, and St Hippolytus who accused the pope of tolerating abortion, simply because the Pope allowed people who had abortions to repent and return to communion in the Church.

In the old days when they did forgive sins like apostacy, abortion, adultery, they gave huge penances for them that could take years or a decade to finish before you could receive communion.