Tertullian on Penance
| The Latin: Hoc enim dico, paenitentiam, quae per Dei gratiam ostensa et indicta nobis in gratiam nos domino revocat, semel cognitam atque susceptam numquam posthac iteratione delicti resignari oportere. Iam quidem nullum ignorantiae praetextum patrocinatur tibi, quod domino adgnito praeceptisque eius admissis, denique paenitentia delictorum functus, rursus te in delicta restituis. |
The English: For what I say is this, that the repentance which, being shown us and commanded us through God’s grace, recalls us to grace with the Lord, when once learned and undertaken by us ought never afterward to be cancelled by repetition of sin. No pretext of ignorance now remains to plead on your behalf; in that, after acknowledging the Lord, and accepting His precepts–in short, after engaging in repentance of (past) sins–you again betake you self to sins. |
| A little ambitious for me. This is an extract from Tertullian’s de Paenitentia. This seems to follow the sentiment St. Paul on repentance and doesn’t condemn post-baptismal sin. The next post brings St. Paul’s thought in. The sources are Tertullian dot org for the Latin and Early Christian Writings dot com for the English. | |
