The Gospel of Rome
Part 8: Penance:

The Bible has much to say about "repentance," which means turning from one's sin, but never does the Bible use the word "penance." Despite the absence of "penance" in the Bible, Roman Catholics are commanded to perform works of penance as a core of their religious duty.

The Council of Trent declared:

If anyone says that in the Catholic Church penance is not truly and properly a sacrament instituted by Christ the Lord for reconciling the faithful of God as often as they fall into sin after baptism, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA. [36]

It is interesting to note the phrase "sin after baptism." This underscores our previous discovery that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that it is through baptism that one's "original sin" is removed. According to Rome, baptism merely provides relief from transgressions up to the time of the water, and not afterwards. So penance is required to help remove the guilt of transgressions done afterwards. We will see that not only is penance required, but also other means like confession, purgatory, and indulgences.

The easy way in which the Church of Rome deals with sin is seen in this doctrine of penance. The penitent receives pardon on comparatively easy terms. He is assigned some task to perform, usually not too hard, sometimes merely the recital of a given number of "Hail Mary's." The result is that he has no qualms about resuming his evil course. It shocked Martin Luther when he read the Greek New Testament edited by Erasmus, that Jesus did not say "do penance" as had been translated by the Roman Church, but "repent." [37]

Let us consider a few key verses in the Roman Catholic Douay-Rheims translation:

"But Peter said to them: Do penance, and be baptized" (Acts 2:38, The Douay-Rheims Translation, emphasis mine).

"And God indeed having winked at the times of this ignorance, now declareth unto men, that all should every where do penance" (Acts 17:30, The Douay-Rheims Translation, emphasis mine).

"And in those days cometh John the Baptist preaching in the desert of Judea. And saying: Do penance: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:1-2, The Douay-Rheims Translation, emphasis mine).

So there it is; the Bible says, "do penance." But is "do penance" an accurate translation?

In all cases, the original Greek word translated "do penance" was metanoeo. The Enhanced Strong's Lexicon defines metanoeo as follows:

3340 [metanoeo /met·an·o·eh·o/] v. From 3326 and 3539; TDNT 4:975; TDNTA 636; GK 3566; 34 occurrences; AV translates as "repent" 34 times. 

to change one's mind, i.e. to repent.
to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins. [38]

Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words defines metanoeo as:

1. metanoeo (3340), lit., "to perceive afterwards" (meta, "after," implying "change," noeo, "to perceive"; nous, "the mind, the seat of moral reflection"), in contrast to pronoeo, "to perceive beforehand," hence signifies "to change one's mind or purpose," always, in the NT, involving a change for the better, an amendment, and always, except in Luke 17:3, 4, of "repentance" from sin. The word is found in the Synoptic Gospels (in Luke, nine times), in Acts five times, in the Apocalypse twelve times, eight in the messages to the churches. [39]

Finally, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament translates the Greek word as:

3340. metanoéo; contracted metanoó¯, fut. metanoé¯so, from metá (3326), denoting change of place or condition, and noéo (3539), to exercise the mind, think, comprehend.

To repent, change the mind, relent. Theologically, it involves regret or sorrow, accompanied by a true change of heart toward God. It is distinguished from metamélomai (3338), to regret. [40]

Clearly there is no legitimate reason to translate those passages with "do penance." No mainstream Bible translation has "do penance" like the Roman Catholic Douay-Rheims. Furthermore, modern Roman Catholic translations have abandoned "do penance" for the correct "repent" in those passages, acknowledging the error of rendering "do penance" for metanoeo.

Penance is a wholly different thing from gospel repentance. Penance is an outward act. Repentance is of the heart. Penance is imposed by a Roman priest. Repentance is the work of the Holy Spirit. What God desires in the sinner is not a punishment of oneself for sins, but a change of heart, a real forsaking of sin, shown by a new life of obedience to God's commands.

In short, penance is a counterfeit repentance. It is the work of man on his body; true repentance is the work of God in the soul. The divine Word commands, "Rend your heart and not your garments" (Joel 2:13.) Penance is "rending the garments" an outward form without inward reality. 

But what God demands is not acts of penance, but repentance, which means turning from sin.

"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him: for he will abundantly pardon" (Isa. 55: 7.) [41]

Next: Auricular Confession

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