Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
Search Presbyter Records
Search Evidence Records
Print:
ID
ER 1995
Ambrose of Milan (Italy) in his work "On repentance" compares the power of priests to remit sins to their power to baptise. Composed in Milan ca 386-390.
Book 1
 
VIII.36. Cur ergo manus inponitis et benedictionis opus creditis, si quis forte revaluerit aegrotus? Cur praesumitis aliquos a colluvione diaboli per vos mundari posse? Cur baptizatis, si per hominem peccata dimitti non licet? In baptismo utique remissio peccatorum omnium est: Quid interest, utrum per paenitentiam an per lavacrum hoc ius sibi datum sacerdotes vindicent? Unum in utroque ministerium est.
 
(ed. Faller 1955: 136-137)
Book 1
 
VIII.36. Why, then, do you lay on hands, and believe it to be the effect of the blessing, if perchance some sick person recovers? Why do you assume that any can be cleansed by you from the pollution of the devil? Why do you baptize if sins cannot be remitted by man? If baptism is certainly the remission of all sins, what difference does it make whether priests claim that this power is given to them in penance or at the font? In each the ministry is one.
 
(trans. De Romestin 1896: 335, altered)

Place of event:

Region
  • Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia
City
  • Milan

About the source:

Author: Ambrose of Milan
Title: On the penance, De paenitentia, On the repentance, Concerning repentance
Origin: Milan (Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
In the treatise on repentance Ambrose of Milan polemicise against the views of the Novatians concerning the power of the Church to remit sins. The Novatian schism arised in 251 in the aftermath of the persecution of Decius. Its followers claimed that the lapsi, Christians who denied their faith during persecution, cannot be readmitted to communion. The schism have taken a firm root both in the East and West and its traces can still be found in the 5th century. Otto Faller noticed that the treatise does not mention the repentance of the emperor Theodosius in 390 and suggested that the treatise was written earlier. Moreover, there are noticeable similarities between "On the repentance" and the "Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam" which was written in 386. According to Faller (1955: 63*-64*) then, the treatise was written between 386 and 390.
Edition:
O. Faller ed., Sancti Ambrosii opera pars septima. Explanatio symboli. De sacramentis. De mysteriis. De paenitentia. De excessu fratris. De obitu Valentiniani. De obitu Theodosii, Coprus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 73, Wien 1955, 117-206
R. Gryson ed., Ambroise de Milan, La pénitence, Sources Chrétiennes 179, Paris 1971
 
English translation:
H. De Romestin trans., Ambrose, Concerning Repentance, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 10, ed. P. Schaff and H. Wace, Buffalo 1896
Bibliography:
J. Romer, Die theologie der Sunde und der Busse beim hl. Ambrosius, Sankt-Gallen 1968
R. Marchioro, La prassi penitenziale nel IV secolo a Milano secondo s. Ambrogio, Rome 1975

Categories:

Religious grouping (other than Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian) - Novatianist
    Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς
      Ritual activity - Baptism and instructing catechumens
        Ritual activity - Imposition of hands
          Ritual activity - Reconciliation/Administering penance
            Ritual activity - Blessing
              Pastoral activity - Visiting the sick
                Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1995, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1995
                Record by: Marta Szada
                last edited: 2020-09-11 15:15:09
                Contact
                Privacy policy
                FAQ
                About the project
                Team