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S i d e b a r
Confession in the Early Church
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This Rock
Volume 17, Number 4
 April 2006 
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Obtaining forgiveness for sins in the primitive Church wasn’t only a private affair between the sinner and God; it also meant reconciliation with the community (see Jas. 5:14–16). Jesus advocated a fraternal process of reconciliation, including mutual correction and community discipline (Matt. 5:23–24; 18:15–19). A specific sacramental practice of reconciliation emerged within the first three centuries of Church history. - Origen, a prolific theologian in the third-century Church, wrote:
The layman who falls into sin cannot by himself wash away his fault. He must have recourse to the levite; he needs the priest. At times, he applies to one even greater: he needs the pontiff’s help, that he may obtain the forgiveness of sins (Hom. in Numeros 10, 1). - St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, also writing in the third century, said:
I entreat you, brethren, that each one should confess his own sin while he who has sinned is still in this world, while his confession may be received, while his satisfaction and absolution given the priest are still pleasing to the Lord (De lapsis 28, 29). - In the fourth century, St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, wrote:
Sins are forgiven through the Holy Ghost. Certainly, but men lend him their ministry. . . . They forgive sin, not in their own name, but in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (De Spiritu Sancto iii, 137).
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