On the Theology of the Mystery of Repentance
Sub-Dn. Lazarus Der-Ghazarian
1. Man’s Fall: the Loss of Divine Likeness
In order to understand properly the Sacrament of Repentance we must first consider Man, his fall and his need for forgiveness. In the beginning man was created free with the ability to choose good and evil. Man chose to reject God’s plan and direction based on the deception that his decision would make him “like God” [Gen. 3:5]. Man, ignoring (or not understanding) that God had already endowed him with the ability to be like Him, chose the very thing that would destroy his likeness to God, i.e., he chose to sin.
The forbidden fruit can be understood as a metaphor on man’s internalizing of evil and disobedience towards God. This choice separated man from God in such a way that he had no way to reverse the effects of his decision. Man’s rejection of God’s love meant the rejection of Life itself. As Abp. Kallistos Ware put it, “By turning away from God, who is immortality and life, man put himself in a state that was contrary to nature, and this unnatural condition led to an inevitable disintegration of his being and eventually to physical death” [Ware, Orthodox Church, 223].
Much like a man who is exiled for a crime, Adam’s decision affected not only himself but also all of his progeny. There is a mysterious unity to the whole human race resulting from our common origin as the offspring of Adam. This is why it is traditional to speak of mankind in the masculine: to emphasize that we all derive from one man, Adam. Man is now born under the domination of sin and the tyranny of the devil. He is also born with a weakened will and a propensity to sin which in Greek is known as “desire,” in Latin as “concupiscence,” and in Armenian as “vavshodootyoon.” It is important to note that although man inherits Adam’s mortality and a propensity to sin, he does not inherit Adam’s guilt. In Orthodox theology, man is only guilty for the sins he himself commits. Yet Adam’s loss of “Life” rendered all of mankind mortal and as a result, subject to sin [Ware 223- 224].
2. Death Enslaves Man to Sin
To understand why we sin, it is important to understand that there is a connection between death -specifically the fear of death- and man’s sin. Mankind was stung by death, and “the sting of death is sin” [1 Corinthians 15:56]. Many people today think only the opposite, that “the sting of sin is death.” For our first parents this was true. Their sin brought death upon them and all mankind. Now the opposite becomes true for us. Because of our inherited mortality, we are led into sin through the fear of death. As St. Paul explains, man -through the fear of death- was subjected to lifelong bondage of sin [Hebrews 2:15]. How does the fear of death lead us to sin? Anthony Dragani, an Eastern Catholic writer, explains the historic Orthodox view: “Because of the certainty of physical death, we try to evade the inevitable. This leads us to try and cheat death, which results in sin. We store more food than we need (gluttony), we horde wealth and resources (avarice), we use our reproductive potential wantonly (lechery), etc. In the quest to cheat death we distort natural God-given gifts. Thus, death causes us to sin.” Because of Death, man was torn asunder and the subconscious fear of it destroyed man’s inner spiritual harmony and Communion with God.
3. Man’s Redemption through Christ
Man was thus “caught” by death and unable to deliver himself from it. Man’s sentence of death could only be stayed by God. Man could not ransom himself from his horrible lot. As the Psalmist states, “Truly no man can ransom himself, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of his soul is costly, and can never suffice, that he should continue to live on for ever, and never see Hades” [Psalm 48:7-9 LXX]. Only God could ransom us: “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Death, for He will receive me” [Psalm 48:15 LXX].
Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God, was of the same Divine nature as God the Father. As St. Paul states, “For in Him the whole fullness of Divinity dwells bodily” [Colossians 2:9]. Through His Incarnation Christ left His heavenly majesty to be born as a humble, defenseless babe. St. Paul writes that Christ, Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8). This obedience reversed the disobedience of the first man, Adam. Christ underwent our suffering and death, in order to heal our human nature. “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered; and being made perfect He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:8-9).
As the Orthodox Paschal liturgy triumphantly proclaims, “Christ trampled down Death by death... and upon those in the tombs, He bestowed Life!” Christ became man and endured the sentence of death and condemnation on behalf of all mankind. By so doing, He abolished Death’s power. Through His Resurrection He opened the way, in our human nature, for our own deification and resurrection. He was “put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:25). In His Divine-Human nature He endured the consequences and effects of the sins of the world in order heal our nature. As St. Peter wrote, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24) But how did Christ’s death destroy Death’s power?
He partook of death in our human nature, and because He was the Son of God, He was able to break free from the clutches of Death. Through His Divine power He rose again. Because He joined our death-bound humanity to His omnipotent Divinity, Death could not hold Him. By His death and Resurrection, He crushed Death and its power over man. Christ “tasted death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9) and as St. Paul adds, “through death He... destroyed him who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).
4. Repentance: Recovering the Likeness of God
Christ, through His Incarnation assumed our fallen, broken humanity in order to heal it. From the time he entered and sanctified the womb of the Holy Virgin Mary, His entire life was a process of divinization of our human nature. Once we become a part of His Body, the Church, through Faith and Holy Baptism (cf. Mark 16:16), we too partake of His Divine energy and grace. In order to overcome the power of Death and recover our likeness to God (the process known as deification), we must avail ourselves of the Sacrament of Holy Repentance.
While Baptism bestows on man forgiveness of sins and incorporation into the Body of Christ, very early in the Church the problem arose of what to do with post-baptismal sin. It was firmly established that Baptism could only be received once. In addition to Baptism, Christ bestowed on the Church the power to forgive sins in His name. In the Gospel of St. John, Jesus entrusts the mission of forgiveness of sins to those He put in authority stating, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” [20:23]. This was given to the apostles by Christ and passed on to their successors through the Sacrament of Ordination.
The Sacrament historically known as Repentance, from the Greek, “Metanoia,” meaning a “change of mind” and thus of one’s entire life. Other names for the Sacrament include “Penance,” from the Latin “Poenitentio,” or “Confession,” which in Armenian is “Khosdovanootyoon.” It was entrusted to the Church by our Lord for the forgiveness of sins committed after Baptism. Because of this, it is sometimes known as the “Second Baptism.” Many of the Church’s Saints and liturgical texts, going along with this theme of “Second Baptism,” make reference to the “Baptism in Tears” which symbolically and sometimes even literally accompanies Christian repentance.
This Sacrament is understood by the Orthodox East not so much as a legalistic pardoning or release of guilt but rather as a cure for the healing of the soul. In the Sacrament of Repentance, the priest represents the Divine Physician, our Lord. Concealment of sins is compared in some of the prayers of Confession to the concealment of sickness to one’s doctor. Thus the penitent is encouraged to fully disclose ones sins taking care, “lest having come to a physician you depart unhealed.”
In the early Church confession of sins was made before the entire Church to manifest the cooperate nature of sin. This underlined the fact that when we sin, we do not just sin against God, but also against our neighbor. Today Confession has taken the form of a private conference between the penitent and the priest in both Eastern and Western traditions. The sins which a priest hears during confession, he is bound by the Church not to reveal to anyone else. Children, although they receive Holy Communion from infancy do not receive the Sacrament of Confession until they reach the age of reason [Ware, 288].
In the rite of Confession the penitent often faces a Holy Cross or an Icon as the priest stands to his side. This is to manifest that it is primarily to God that he makes his confession, not the priest. The priest takes the role primarily as a witness and not a judge. He is a witness of the penitent’s sincerity and also of God’s abounding mercy. The priest is also there to administer God’s absolution. For example, the words of absolution said by the priest in Slavonic are: “And I, an unworthy priest, through the power given me by Him, forgive and absolve you from all your sins.” After the absolution the priest may also impose a penance.
While no strict rules exist regarding the frequency of Confession, it tends to follow the practice regarding Holy Communion. Where infrequent Communion prevails, Confession is typically received before each reception of Holy Communion. But where the practice of frequent Communion is more common, the Sacrament of Repentance doesn’t necessarily precede each Holy Communion [Ware, 290]. To complete repentance, the Church has always followed the direction of our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount and recommended to the faithful prayer, fasting and almsgiving [cf. St. Mt. Chp. 5-7].
5. Conclusion:
The Holy Sacrament of Repentance is a great gift God has given to the Church. To understand the depth of its importance one must first understand man’s fall into sin, his loss of the Divine Likeness and finally, his need for redemption. It is also important to realize that our Lord’s entire life was for our redemption and the recovery of God’s likeness. Only once all this is understood, including our need to be reconciled with God and His Body, the Church, can we truly appreciate our need for Repentance. Only then can we truly appreciate those words so cherished in Christian Tradition, “Lord have mercy on me a sinner.”