Medieval beliefs about sin and forgiveness » English Lit Resources from Cross... - 1 views
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Sin, in Christian teaching, consists of disobedience to the known will of God
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Medieval Church inherited and taught the doctrine of original sin, the belief that all human beings share in collective guilt as a result of the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in the Fall of Humankind, together with an ongoing predisposition to disobey God
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taking part in this, believers symbolically shared in the victory paid for – and won by - Christ over the power of sin (known as the atonement).
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The idea of purgatory was based on the obvious fact that most people are neither extremely good nor extremely evil.
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To educate people about the Christian faith and the Church’s rituals and practices To make known the contents of the Bible, the Church’s interpretations of the Bible, and also the lives of saints To help people understand the system of confession and to prepare for their confession to their parish priest in a careful way To explain about sin and virtues.
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Venial sins were relatively small faults and shortcomings. The individual could confess these privately to God Mortal, or ‘deadly’, sins were wrong acts committed consciously and deliberately. They therefore placed the soul in serious danger and the Church taught that, in normal circumstances, they could only be forgiven through the sacrament of penance and by confession to a priest.
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The simple food monks and nuns were supposed to keep to The regular fasting periods that all Christians observed during the Church year.
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repentance means the person wants to turn away from undertaking wrong behaviour and actively decides to do so henceforward.
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The priest would hear the confession and talk to the penitent to ascertain that they truly repented and resolved to do better in future. The priest then pronounced absolution, declaring that Christ forgave the sins of the truly repentant.
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Penance This means an action which demonstrates that someone has repented of their sins. The priest might order a penitent, for example, to do one of the following for a period: Go on pilgrimage Fast (abstain from food) Donate alms to the Church or the poor.
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knowledge of the Christian faith came, above all, from preaching and teaching, week by week from parish priests.
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would not go straight to heaven after death either. Instead, they would spend a period in the spiritual state of purgatory where they could ‘pay for’ / atone for sins committed on earth
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It was believed that, whilst still alive, people could undertake deeds that would speed either themselves (in the future) or a dead friend or relative through this process