Do Penance, What?!? Part 2

by Aaron
Last week in our blog we looked at the historical division that resulted in different Bible translations being used by the Protestant and the Catholic Church. The schism between the two theological perspectives hit the fan (so to speak) when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Church door in 1517…the theses seem to wholly revolve around the words repentance and penance. Here are the first two:
  1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, in saying, "Repent ye, etc.," intended that the whole life of his believers on earth should be a constant penance.
  2. And the word "penance" neither can, nor may, be understood as referring to the Sacrament of Penance, that is, to confession and atonement as exercised under the priest's ministry.
What does this mean and why does Luther say this? Let me show you two verses from two different Bible translations.
 
Matthew 4:17:
ESV(English Standard Version) - From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Douay Rheims- From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Acts 2:38:
ESV- And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Douay Rheims- But Peter said to them: Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
 

If you look at the words I underlined in the verses above, you see the difference, and it comes about because of a mistranslation of the Greek word “metanoeo.” Jerome’s Latin Vulgate (which the Catholic Church used since 1582 as the Douay Rheims version) translates this as “poenitentiam agite" ("do penance"). Metanoeoi doesn’t mean “do penance” though, it means to change one’s mind, have sorrow, and experience a true change of heart. Repentance is a work that God initiates within us that works its way out. Penance, on the other hand, is outward works to atone for our own sin. Mark Sohmer writes, “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…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.”

 
This is where the rift widened during the Reformation—repentance and penance.
 
Part of the issue is the way Christians tend to latch on to pithy formulas for faith. During the Middle Ages, people liked grouping things in sevens (e.g., seven deadly sins, seven works of mercy, seven virtues, seven holy orders, seven liberal arts, etc.). The idea of seven “sacraments” emerged about 1000 years after Jesus, but was claimed to have been instituted by Jesus himself (because we love to blame Jesus for all of our stupid ideas, right?). These sacraments were: (1) Baptism, (2) Confirmation, (3) Eucharist, (4) Penance, (5) Extreme Unction, (6) Holy Orders, and (7) Holy Matrimony. The Reformers pointed out that the seven sacraments didn’t go back to Jesus. In response, the Catholic Church pointed to the Latin Vulgate passages to support their claims that Jesus instituted all seven. The Reformers said this “evidence” didn’t stand up to scrutiny because the Greek New Testament didn’t support Jerome’s mistranslation. The Council of Trent tried to shut the matter down again, however, by saying:

If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by Jesus Christ, our Lord; or, that they are more, or less, than seven, to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony; or even that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a sacrament; let him be anathema.” (7th sess. 3 March 1557).

 
This became too much for the Reformers, most importantly Luther, who believed that the Bible clearly taught salvation through faith alone. He pointed to Jesus’ real words when he said, “repent” and not “do penance.” We do not atone for our own sin; Jesus did so at the Cross. Too many Christians today live in the Catholic Church’s mindset from the 16th century, trying to “do penance”…too many churches who claim to believe in grace encourage this mindset as well. Human beings cannot atone for their own sin before God. If they could, Jesus wouldn’t have had to die and rise again; the Gospel would cease to be the “good news” it is and become useless news instead. The truth is that we can never pay for what separates us from God; this is why God does it Himself in the person of Jesus. We do not have to “do penance”; we get to live lives of hope and freedom because Jesus has set us free to love God.

To bring this whole thing to a close, it is important to be discerning regarding how Scripture is translated, interpreted, and lived out. Remember that Scripture is all about Jesus and His saving work in our lives. He has paid the price we could never pay once and for all, this is why our lives should be marked by gratitude and joy…it is why they should be marked by repentance and not penance.