Christian Penance Beliefs

Wesley believed that sanctification was a process that could be received as an instantaneous experience after conversion, or later on in life. No matter when sanctification was achieved, the moment someone received sanctification was the “climax” of their Christian life. He believed that the “second blessing purified the believer from his inward sin and enabled him to secure perfect love of God and of his fellowmen.” Followers of Wesley had trouble balancing the “crisis and process views” of Wesley, and the crisis view began to take “precedence over the process view.” Soon, sanctification was no longer viewed as the goal of a Christian life, but the beginning of a Christian life.

For example, many people believe that purgatory is part of their afterlife. “[T]he Catholic Church defines purgatory as a ‘purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven,’ which is experienced by those ‘who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified’” (Brom). For Catholics, this place in between Heaven and Hell is where they repent for their sins before moving on to Heaven. Because this middle ground exists, people following this religion may not focus as much on repenting for their sins while they are living. Instead, Catholics may wait to ask for forgiveness for all their wrongdoings. Moreover, they may feel more free to take actions that negatively impact others because they think they have the luxury of seeking forgiveness in the afterlife.

Essentially, members of the Roman Catholic Church were condemned to Hell unless they practiced the sacrament of penance, which meant that members who have sinned must communicate with the priest of a Roman Catholic Church to admit their sins and be punished for them. This led to much corruption within the Roman Catholic Church, as priests began to wield an unnatural amount of power over members of the church. This grievance can be traced back to Martin Luther’s 95 Theses: “2. And the word ‘penance’ neither can, nor may, be understood as referring to the Sacrament of Penance, that is, to confession and atonement as exercised under the priest’s ministry…5. The pope will not, and cannot, remit other punishments than those which has imposed by his own decree or according to the canons.” As can be observed, Martin Luther spearheaded the Religious Reformation and called out the Roman Catholic Church for its strict rules on penance. Martin Luther’s 95 Theses are considered to be the beginning of the Religious Reformation, and since penance was one of the first grievances listed, it could be considered one of the primary reasons for the Religious Reformation.

Anselm of Canterbury, also a twelfth century theologian, had a quite different understanding of sin and redemption. He espoused the theory of Satisfaction that argued “it is not enough for humans to cease from sin. They must offer satisfaction for the sins that they have already committed” . He argued that only Jesus, who was born without sin, could offer his life to God as satisfaction. Humans could not do so because they owe everything to God.

The mariner now knows that his forgiveness now lies in his own hands. He must now rely on his penance. During the middle ages, penance used to consist of a long walk or a

The second rite of reconciliation is a celebration that is split into two parts: communal celebration and individual confession. During communal celebration, they would have a ceremony which included homily, prayers and readings from the gospel. They would then all say together the examination of conscience which is a reflection of their sins and then each person would have an individual confession with the priest to clear their sins that they had committed. Individual confession gives people a chance to reconnect with God by seeking guidance and forgiveness from a priest. Through this process the penitent would ask for reconciliation, confess their sins and promise not to sin again. To complete, the priest would need to give them a penance which is something the person would need to do to repair the damage done by sin.

God gave men the free will to elect their own salvation. There is no sin until it is actually committed. Sin was now considered a voluntary act. It also consists of a change of heart, which revived the concept of limited atonement. Christ did not die for only a select few predestined elect, but for whosoever will accept God’s offer of salvation. Personal commitment also involved an active and useful Christian life in which individual action brings the kingdom closer.

In the book Rediscovering the Power of Repentance and Forgiveness, Dr. Leah Coulter seeks to challenge the conventional Christian approach to forgiveness. Conventional Christianity approaches forgiveness as a Christian duty, and, in many ways, this has been unfair to the victims who have almost been condemned for seeking justice rather than simply forgetting. She asks, "From an all too common Christian view, why must the weight and responsibility of forgiveness be placed on the sinned-against instead of the sinner's repentance?" (Coulter). Therefore, she focuses extensively on the idea of repentance and the duty of the sinner to repent. However, that is not to suggest that Coulter abandons the idea that forgiveness is a Christian imperative, but she attempts to place it within its Jewish context, and demonstrate how other facets of historical Judaism inform the practice of forgiveness and repentance.

Evidence of religious authority is observable in the Roman Catholic Church’s “notion that doing penance contributed to one’s salvation” (Goff & Harvey, 2004, p. 10). This notion furnished the Catholic Church with authority over its congregation. In fact, it was the Catholic Church’s clergy that administered confessionals as well as assigned tasks to invalidate the consequences of the confessed

While numerous teachings Jesus conveyed were challenging, many people believe his call for forgiveness to be extremely difficult to practice. It is not easy to pardon, or even love someone who has betrayed us. These sins people commit against can leave behind scars, and it can take a long time in order for our pain to be healed (Saint Mary’s Bible,1456). Moreover, when we have been wronged, it might be tempting to seek revenge against on the person who has done us wrong, to make him or her hurt as we have been. Additionally, if we do not seek vengeance, we might hold onto feelings directed against that person and well into the future. After we have been wounded in a specific way it is difficult to let our guard down and be vulnerable again

Another way to think about this is how Wesley wrote in his sermon The Scripture Way of Salvation. On our journey to sanctification, he states, what keeps us going on the journey are the means of grace, whether they be for ourselves or done for others. His basic point was that once we are brought into awareness of the grace and our need to repent and turn from our sin, the means provide the nourishment our souls need to grow in grace. How else could one grow in grace than by means of grace?

The author (2007) also points out the importance of the Roman Catholic views point about confession and penance has three significate merits to confession. The first significate merit is that consistent confession forces one to confront one’s sin, meaning that one will not merely overlook or diminish one’s transgressions; instead it will cause one to take their sin more earnestly (p 213). The second significate is that the act of penance, paying a price for sin, creates a mindfulness of the significance of sin, meaning that it will not allow one to have a carelessness understanding toward sin of thinking that one will always be simply forgiven; instead penance combats this predisposition by arresting consequences for one’s sin (p 213). The third Significate merit is that it lifts the burned of guilt by forgiveness being granted during the ritual of penance, which can be extremely redemptive for some individuals (p

Asking for forgiveness and forgiving to many is the hardest thing to do but we must remember in the book of Matthew (18:21-22) Peter said to the Lord: “Lord if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” In this paper, the chosen case study will give the reader a better understanding of what forgiveness is to Jesus. Forgiveness is a big part of the Bible and if Jesus forgives us of our sins we too must learn to be as forgiving as him.

for which the Sacrament of Penance shall be exposed. Within the scope of this discourse in

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is also known as the Sacrament of Penance or Confession. It shows that God is forgiving and loving, and that every time we confess our sins, we reconcile with God. Many Catholics participate in this Sacrament because after they confess, they experience great feelings such as relief, peace, freedom, and love. Public sins are confessed within a group, publicly. However, private sins are confessed during private confessions in which the sinner is anonymous to the priest and they would confess individually.