Early Christian Views on Sin and Repentance

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...l, and You turn from the evils of men. You, O Lord, according to Your great goodness, have promised repentance and forgiveness to those who have sinned against You, and in Your infinite mercy have appointed repentance to sinners, that they may be saved. You therefore, O Lord, the God of the just, have not appointed repentance for the just, as for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who have not sinned against You; but You have appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner. For I have sinned beyond the number of the sands of the sea. My transgressions, O Lord, are multiplied; my transgressions are multiplied, and I am not worthy to look up and see the height of heaven because of the multitude of my iniquity. I am bowed down with many iron bands, for I have provoked Your wrath and done evil before You, setting up abominations and multiplying offenses. Now therefore I bow the knee of my heart, begging for Your grace. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge my iniquities. Therefore I humbly beg You, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me, and do not destroy me with my iniquities. Do not be angry with me forever by reserving evil for me, nor condemn me to the lower parts of the earth

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

...pentance? Therefore, He who is both Lord and a most gentle Father promises that He will forgive the sins of those who repent, and that He will blot out all the iniquities of the man who begins again to practice righteousness. For just as the uprightness of his past life is of no help to the man who lives badly, because his later wickedness has destroyed his works of righteousness, so also former sins do not stand in the way of the man who has corrected his life, because his later righteousness has wiped away the stain of his former life. For the man who repents of what he has done understands his former error. And for this reason the Greeks speak better and more meaningfully of metanoia, which we may express in Latin as a return to a right understanding. For he returns to a right understanding, and recovers his mind, as it were, from madness, when he is grieved over his error. He rebukes himself for his madness and strengthens his mind for a better way of life. Then he is especially on guard against this very thing, so that he may not be led again into the same snares. In short, even dumb animals, when they have been trapped by deceit, if they somehow get free and escape, become

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

For being desirous of promoting our life and salvation in accordance with His own goodness, in that circumcision He has set before us repentance, that if we lay open our hearts — that is if we confess our sins and make satisfaction to God — we shall obtain pardon, which is denied to those who are obstinate and conceal their faults, by Him who regards not the outward appearance, as man does, but the innermost secrets of the heart.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching

...y do anything against right reason. We, both men and angels, will be proven guilty of sin unless we repent beforehand. If the word of God predicts that some angels and people will definitely be punished, it is because it foreknows they will be unchangeably wicked, not because God made them that way. Therefore, if they repent, all who desire it can receive mercy from God: and Scripture declares that they will be blessed, saying, 'Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin;' meaning, after he has repented of his sins so that he may receive forgiveness from God. Not like some of you deceive yourselves, and others like you, by saying that even as sinners, knowing God will mean that the Lord will not charge them with sin. We have evidence in the single failing of David, which occurred due to his pride, and he was forgiven when he mourned and wept, as it is written. If even such a man was not granted forgiveness without repentance, and only after this great king, anointed one, and prophet mourned and humbled himself, how can those who are impure and utterly lost, expect that the Lord will not count their sin if they do not weep, mourn, and repent? This one failing of Davi

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

Repentance, then, is an effect of faith. For unless a man believe that to which he was addicted to be sin, he will not abandon it;

Anonymous, Treatise Against the Heretic Novatian Direct teaching

let us give our full confession, since the powers of heaven rejoice over our repentance, all the angels rejoice, and Christ also rejoices, who once again with full and merciful moderation exhorts us, laden with sins, overwhelmed with crimes, to cease from wickedness, saying, Turn, and return from your impieties, and your iniquities shall not be to you for a punishment.

Anonymous, Treatise Against the Heretic Novatian Direct teaching

... while he was still in one household, that is, the Church of Christ, he would have mourned over the sins of his neighbors as his own. He would have borne the burdens of his brothers, as the apostle exhorts. He would have strengthened those wavering in the faith with heavenly counsel. But now, from the time when he began to practice that heresy of Cain, which delights only in killing, he has lately not even spared himself. But if he had read that the righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him on the day when he has gone astray, and that the wickedness of the wicked shall not harm him from the day when he has been converted, Ezekiel 33:12, he would long ago have repented in ashes. Yet he is always opposed to penitents. He works more readily to destroy things that are built and standing than to build up those that are fallen. Once again he has made heathens out of many of our most miserable brothers, terrifying them with his false objections by saying that the repentance of the lapsed is useless and cannot help them toward salvation, although Scripture cries out and says, “Remember from where you have fallen, and repent, or else I will come to you unless you repent,” Reve

Luke 24:47 Background

and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Matthew 9:13 Background

But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Acts 20:21 Background

testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 7:10 Background

For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Acts 2:38 Background

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Direct teaching

...ce except the one that happens when we go down into the water and receive forgiveness of our former sins." He said to me, "What you heard was sound teaching, for that is really so. For the person who has received forgiveness of sins ought not to sin anymore, but to live in purity. However, since you are asking carefully about everything, I will explain this to you also. I do not say it in order to give an excuse for error to those who are going to believe, or who have recently believed, in the Lord. For those who have now believed, and those who are going to believe, do not have repentance for sins, but they do have forgiveness of their previous sins. But for those who were called before these days, the Lord has appointed repentance. For the Lord, knowing the heart and knowing beforehand all things, knew the weakness of human beings and the many tricks of the devil, that he would bring some evil on the servants of God and would act wickedly toward them. Therefore the Lord, being merciful, had mercy on the work of His hand and appointed repentance for them. And He has given me authority over this repentance. Therefore I say to you that if anyone is tempted by the devil and sins a

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Direct teaching

...become useless to their Lord because they have taken on savage habits. Therefore, these people have repentance in their power, unless they are found to have denied from the heart. But if anyone is found to have denied from the heart, I do not know whether he can live. And I say this not about these present days, as if anyone who has denied now may receive repentance, for it is impossible for someone to be saved who now intends to deny his Lord. But for those who denied Him long ago, repentance seems to be possible. If, therefore, anyone intends to repent, let him do so quickly, before the tower is completed. For if not, he will be completely destroyed by the women. And the chipped stones are the deceitful and the slanderers. And the wild beasts that you saw on the ninth mountain are the same. For just as wild beasts destroy and kill a person by their poison, so also the words of such people destroy and ruin a person. Accordingly, these are crippled in their faith because of the deeds they have done in themselves. Yet some repented and were saved. And the rest, who are like this, can be saved if they repent. But if they do not repent, they will perish with those women, whose powe

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

So, the person who has received forgiveness of sins ought not to sin anymore. For besides the first and only repentance from sins, which is from the sins of the former life, the first pagan life, that is, sins done in ignorance, there is also immediately set before those who have been called a repentance that cleanses the seat of the soul from transgressions, so that faith may be firmly established. And the Lord, knowing the heart and foreknowing the future, saw beforehand both the weakness of man and the craft and cunning of the devil from the beginning. He saw how the devil, envying man because of the forgiveness of sins, would bring certain causes of sins before the servants of God, skillfully working harm so that they might fall along with him. Therefore, since He is very merciful, He has granted, in the case of those who, though in faith, fall into some transgression, a second repentance. So if anyone is tempted after being called, and is overcome by force and deceit, he may still receive a repentance that is not to be regretted. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expect

Tertullian, On Modesty Direct teaching

without prejudice to that species of repentance after believing, which either, for lighter sins, will be able to obtain pardon from the bishop, or else, for greater and irremissible ones, from God only.

Tertullian, On Modesty Supporting witness

so that one (Scripture) may seem to draw tight, another to relax, the reins of discipline — in uncertainty, as it were — and the latter to debase the remedial aid of repentance through lenity, the former to refuse it through austerity.

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

For, in addition to the first and only repentance from sins (this is from the previous sins in the first and heathen life — I mean that in ignorance), there is immediately proposed to those who have been called, the repentance which cleanses the seat of the soul from transgressions, that faith may be established.

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Supporting witness

But if he should sin frequently after this, and then repent, to such a man his repentance will be of no avail;

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...emes Him whom Christ called His Lord and His God is rewarded by Christ, and receives forgiveness of sins and the sanctification of baptism! But by what power can the one who denies God the Creator, the Father of Christ, receive in baptism the forgiveness of sins, since Christ received that very power, by which we are baptized and sanctified, from that same Father? He called the Father greater than Himself. He asked to be glorified by Him. He fulfilled His will even to obeying by drinking the cup and undergoing death. What else is this, then, except becoming a partner with blaspheming heretics, to wish to maintain and insist that one who blasphemes and sins seriously against the Father and the Lord and God of Christ can receive forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ? Moreover, what is this, and what kind of teaching is it, that the one who denies the Son of God does not have the Father, but the one who denies the Father should be thought to have the Son, although the Son Himself testifies and says, "No man can come to me except it were given to him of my Father." John 6:65 So it is clear that no forgiveness of sins can be received in baptism from the Son unless it is plain tha

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

...nds. But do not think that, because offenses are removed by generosity, you are given permission to sin. For sins are taken away if you are generous toward God because you have sinned. But if you sin because you are relying on your generosity, they are not taken away. For God especially wants people to be cleansed from their sins, and therefore He commands them to repent. But to repent is nothing other than to declare and affirm that one will sin no more. Therefore, those who slip into sin without knowing it and without caution are pardoned; he who sins willfully has no pardon. But even if anyone has been purified from every stain of sin, let him not think that he may keep back from the work of generosity because he has no faults to wipe away. No, truly, he is then even more bound to practice justice when he has become just, so that what he had previously done for the healing of his wounds, he may afterward do for the praise and glory of virtue. To this must be added that no one can be without fault as long as he is burdened with a covering of flesh, whose weakness is subject to the rule of sin in three ways: in deeds, in words, and in thoughts.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...heaven; but whoever denies Me, him I will also deny," Matthew 10:32-33. And again He has said, "All sins will be forgiven to the sons of men, and blasphemies; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not have forgiveness, but is guilty of eternal sin," Mark 3:28-29. Also the blessed apostle has said, "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of demons," 1 Corinthians 10:21. He who keeps these words from our brothers deceives those miserable people, so that those who, by truly repenting, might satisfy God, both as Father and as merciful, by their prayers and works, are misled more deeply to their destruction; and those who might have raised themselves up fall more deeply. For although, in lesser sins, sinners may do penance for a set time, and according to the rules of discipline come to public confession, and by the laying on of the hands of the bishop and clergy receive the right of communion, now, before their time is fulfilled, while persecution is still raging, while the peace of the Church itself is not yet restored, they are admitted to communion, and their name is presented. While th

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

11. Since in baptism each person has his own sins forgiven, the Lord proves and declares in His Gospel that sins can be taken away only by those who have the Holy Spirit. For after His resurrection, when He sent out His disciples, He spoke to them and said, "As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven; if you retain anyone's sins, they will be retained." John 20:21-23 In this place He shows that only the one who has the Holy Spirit can baptize and give forgiveness of sins. Moreover, John, who was to baptize Christ our Lord Himself, received the Holy Spirit beforehand while he was still in his mother's womb, so that it might be certain and clear that no one can baptize except those who have the Holy Spirit. Therefore those who support heretics or schismatics must answer us whether they have the Holy Spirit or not. If they have Him, why are hands laid on those who were baptized among them when they come to us, so that they may receive the Holy Spirit, since He must surely have been received there, where, if He was there, He could also be g

Cyprian, Treatises Background

let not the repentance be less than the sin.

Peter of Alexandria, Canonical Epistle Direct teaching

Balsamon. These canons deal with those who, during the persecution, denied the faith and are doing penance. The first canon orders that those who, after many tortures, sacrificed to the gods because they were too weak to endure, and who have spent three years in penitence, should be given another forty days. Then they should be admitted into the Church. Pay attention to these canons. They set out various useful rules for those who have denied their God and are seeking repentance, and for those who willingly sought martyrdom and fell away, and then confessed the faith again, and for other similar matters. Also consult many canons of the Council of Ancyra, because that will be helpful to you.

Peter of Alexandria, Canonical Epistle Direct teaching

...he prayers of others. Therefore we will pray for them, that God may grant them forgiveness of their sins. And with the others who have fallen away, but afterward turned back from their error and confessed godliness, we will have communion, remembering the struggles they endured for God's sake before their fall, and also their later worthy repentance, and that they show that because of their sin they have been, as it were, strangers to their own city. And we will not only have communion with them, but also pray for their reconciliation, along with other fitting things, including the good works they ought to do, for example, fasting, giving to the poor, and penance. By these things, he who is our Advocate makes the Father favorable toward us. Then he uses a passage from Holy Scripture, and it is taken from the first catholic epistle of the holy apostle and evangelist John.

Peter of Alexandria, Canonical Epistle Direct teaching

...et since they escaped the notice of their persecutors by doing this, let a penalty of six months of penance be imposed on them. For in this way they will profit more, by meditating on the prophet's words and saying, "To us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called the Messenger of My mighty counsel." Isaiah 9:6 As you know, before His coming, another infant, in the sixth month of his conception, preached repentance for the remission of sins, Luke 1:76-77 and He Himself also was conceived to preach repentance. Moreover, we hear that both also preach, first of all, not only repentance, but also the kingdom of heaven, which, as we have learned, is within us. Luke 17:21 For the word that we believe is near us, in our mouth and in our heart. Being reminded of this, they will learn to confess with their mouths that Jesus is the Christ, believing in their heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and being like those who hear, that with the heart man believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation. Romans 10:8-10

Peter of Alexandria, Canonical Epistle Supporting witness

Balsamon. Those who from fear only and timidity deserted the faith, and then had an eye towards repentance, the canon punishes with three years' exclusion, according to the parable of the fig-tree in the Gospels.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...with comforting admonitions the one who has gone astray, or has been wounded, bruised, or broken by sins and put out of the way. He must free it from its offenses and give hope. In this way he must restore it in strength to the Church, bringing it back into the flock. Bring back what has been driven away. That is, do not allow the one who remains in sins and has been cast out as punishment to stay excluded. Instead, receive that one, bring him back, and restore him to the flock, that is, to the people of the undefiled Church. Seek what is lost. That is, do not allow the one who has despaired of salvation because of the great number of offenses to perish completely. Search for the one who has grown sleepy, drowsy, and sluggish, and who is careless about his own life because of the depth of his sleep, and who is far from his own flock, so that he is in danger of falling among the wolves and being devoured by them. Bring him back by admonition. Urge him to be watchful, and plant hope in him. Do not allow him to say what some have said: “Our impieties are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then shall we live?” Therefore, as much as possible, let the bishop make the offense his o

Peter of Alexandria, Canonical Epistle Supporting witness

...eady past should be enough punishment. For, indeed, he says that the fourth Passover has now passed since they committed this very grievous fall. And although perhaps at first, when they came in repentance, they were not received, yet they had not gone on to sacrifice to the gods by their own free choice. They had resisted for a long time, and they carried on their bodies the marks of Jesus, that is, the scars of the wounds they had suffered for Christ. And now the third year has passed since they first mourned over their fall. So he decrees that, as an added punishment, forty more days should be laid on them from the time they came asking to be admitted to communion, instead of any further severity. During this time they were to practice an even greater degree of repentance and to fast more earnestly, that is, with more careful attention, guarding themselves, staying watchful in prayer, and meditating on, that is, continually turning over in their minds and speaking aloud, the text quoted by the Lord against the tempter: "Get behind me, Satan; for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve."

Peter of Alexandria, Canonical Epistle Direct teaching

Balsamon. Some people had been accused before the tyrant and handed over, or they had given themselves up on their own. Then, when they were overcome by torture, they failed in their testimony. Later they repented and recognized what was right and good. They confessed that they were Christians, and so they were thrown into prison and tortured. This holy man thinks it is right to receive such people with joy in the heart, to strengthen them in the orthodox faith, and to share fellowship with them both in prayers and in partaking of the sacraments. He also says they should be encouraged with comforting words, so that they may be more steadfast in the struggle and be counted worthy of the kingdom of heaven. And so that no one might think they should not be received because they had lapsed, he brings forward the testimony of Scripture that the just man falls seven times, that is, often, and rises again. And, he says, if all who had failed in their confession had done this, namely, taken up their struggle again and confessed before the tyrant that they were Christians, they would have shown a most complete repentance. Therefore, the subject covered in this canon is different from that i

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

...ut having hope of salvation, they may be converted, and may pray to God with tears because of their sins, and may repent from their hearts, and so calm His displeasure toward them. Then they will receive pardon from Him, as from a merciful Father.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

Therefore, bishop, let your care reach every kind of person: those who have not sinned, so that they may remain innocent; and those who do sin, so that they may repent. For the Lord says this to you: "Take heed that you do not offend one of these little ones" in Matthew 18:10. It is also your duty to grant forgiveness to those who repent. For as soon as someone who has sinned says with sincere heart, "I have sinned against the Lord," the Holy Spirit answers, "The Lord also has forgiven your sin; be of good cheer, you shall not die." Therefore, bishop, understand the dignity of your office. As you have received the power of binding, so you have also received the power of loosing. Since you have the power of loosing, know yourself, and conduct yourself in this world in a way that fits your office, knowing that you must give a great account. For to those whom, as the Scripture says, men have entrusted much, they will require the more, in Luke 12:48. For no man is free from sin, except Him who was made man for us. For it is written, "No man is pure from filthiness, no, not even if his life is only one day long." For this reason, the lives and conduct of the ancient holy men and patriar

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

Now he who sins after his baptism, unless he repent and forsake his sins, shall be condemned to hell-fire.

Cyprian, Epistles Background

For, as in smaller sins which are not committed against God, penitence may be fulfilled in a set time, and confession may be made with investigation of the life of him who fulfils the penitence, and no one can come to communion unless the hands of the bishop and clergy be first imposed upon him;

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

... that it may not satisfy an offended God. Thus, the man who had once been ashamed or afraid to be a Christian may not afterward seek Christ his Lord, and the one who had left the Church may not return to the Church. They make every effort to keep sins from being atoned for by just acts of satisfaction and mourning, and to keep wounds from being washed away by tears. True peace is destroyed by the falsehood of a false peace. The healing bosom of a mother is shut by the interference of a stepmother, so that weeping and groaning may not be heard from the heart and from the lips of the fallen. And beyond this, in the Capitol, where they had sinned before, the fallen are forced with their tongues and lips to speak against the priests, to attack the confessors and virgins with insults and abusive words, and also those righteous men who are most outstanding in the praise of the faith and most glorious in the Church. By these things, it is really not the modesty, humility, and shame of our people that are struck, but their own hope and life that are torn apart. For it is not the one who hears an insult but the one who speaks it who is miserable. It is not the one who is struck by his br